Stories of old New Haven

PXuWHti^'^^^

I

STORIES OF
OLD NEW HAVEN

(ILLUSTRATED)

BY

ERNEST H. BALDWIN, Ph. D.

Instructor in History, Hillhouse High School, New
Haven, Conn., and Lecturer in History, Yale University.

THE

Press

PUBLISHERS

114

FIFTH AVENUE
Ltondon NEW YORK ^lontweal

Copyright, 1902,
By Ernest Hickok Baldwin.

DEDICATED TO

H. I. B.,

WHOSE PURITAN ANCESTOR LANDED AT
QUINNIPIAC IN 1638, AND WHOSE
PATERNAL GRANDFATHER MADE VAL-
UABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HIS-
TORICAL LITERATURE OF THE NEW
HAVEN COLONY.

2012163

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

PREFACE 7

INTRODUCTION. — Why the Puritans Left

England , 1 1

CHAPTER I.
How Some Puritans Left England and

Went to Quinnipiac 17

CHAPTER II.

How the Founders of New Haven Built a

City Four-Square 30

CHAPTER III.
How Momaugin Sold Quinnipiac 44

CHAPTER IV.
How the Laws of Moses Became the

Laws of New Haven 55

CHAPTER V.

How a Great Ship Went Out Through the
Ice and Came Back in a Summer
Cloud 71

CHAPTER VI.
How New Haven Hid the Judges Who

Condemned a King to Death 84

CHAPTER VII.
How New Haven Came to Be in the State

of Connecticut 101

CHAPTER VIII.
How New Haven Became the Home of

Yale College 118

CHAPTER IX.

How the Market-place Became the Green
and the Many Changes It Has
Seen 133

CHAPTER X.
How New Haven Celebrated the Fourth

of July in the Year 1779 149

CHAPTER XI.

How New Haven Defended the Mendi

Men 164

CHAPTER XII.
How the People of New Haven Lived in

Colonial Days 181

APPENDIX 195

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.

John Davenport . . . . .18

The Landing at Quinnipiac in 1638 . 32
Momaugin — His Mark . . . .52
Mantowese — His Mark . . . .52
Stocks ....... 62

The Phantom Ship 82

Judges' Cave 96

An Old Charter . . . . .102
The Old Brick Row . . . .132
The Market Place in 1639 . . . 136

Hillhouse Avenue 142

The Green in 1902 148

An Old Wellsweep 184

The Half-mile Square . . . .196

PREFACE.

The following stories do not pretend to
give a detailed history of New Haven from
the date of its founding to the present time.
They contain, in simple language, accounts
of only those events and incidents connected
with its history which are of chief importance
and general interest. They are designed,
primarily, to interest and instruct those boys
and girls whose homes are situated in or near
that old New England city or whose ances-
tors came from there. New Haven is a city
of fine historic traditions, is more than two
hundred and sixty years old and widely
famed. A knowledge of its history and of
the high-minded men who made it what it

8 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

is, cannot fail to prompt feelings of gratitude
and pride, and inspire the younger genera-
tion with an ambition to protect its fair name
and preserve its noble institutions.

In the preparation of these stories botii
primary and secondary sources have been
used. Among these should be mentioned:
The New Haven Colony Records, the pub-
lications of the New Haven Colony Histori-
cal Society, Atwater's History of The Colony.
of New Haven, Levermore's Republic of
New Haven, Bacon's Historical Discourses,
Blake's Chronicles of the New Haven Green,
Bartlett's Historical Sketches, and Kingsley's
Historical Discourse.

The author desires to acknowledge his in-
debtedness to those who have given aid and
encouragement in the preparation of these
stories. In this connection special mention
should be made of Dr. Stuart H. Rowe, Prin-
cipal of the Lovell School District, New Ha-

PREFACE. 9

ven, for his valuable suggestions regarding
their form and substance; and Mr. A. H.
Baldwin, of Washington, D. C, for the cover
design and other original drawings illustrat-
ing the book.

New Haven, Conn., September 29, 1902.

INTRODUCTION.

Why the Puritans Left England.

In the days when our forefathers left their
homes across the sea and came to New Eng-
land, old England was not a very happy coun-
try to live in; at least a good many of the
English people did not think it was. The
Stuart kings ruled England then and they
were very unwise and unjust. They believed
that God had made them kings ; and so, they
thought it was right for them to do what-
ever they pleased, and that the people ought
to obey them willingly.

Now in those days all the churches of
England were supported by taxes laid on the
people, just as public schools are supported

12 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

in our country now-a-days. Besides that
everybody had to go to church and worship
God in the way the King and his Bishops
ordered. But there were some people who
did not like the way the church services were
conducted. They even believed that some of
the forms and ceremonies used in the wor-
ship were contrary to the teaching of the
Bible and therefore wrong. These people
tried to reform or purify the church, and so
were called Puritans.

When James I, who was the first Stuart
king, became ruler of England in the year
1604, these Puritans asked him to make some
changes in the church worship and do away
with the forms and ceremonies they disliked.
But the king thought he knew what was best
and obstinately refused to do what they wish-
ed. More than that, he threatened to " har-
ry them out of the land " if they didn't wor-
ship in the way required by law.

INTRODUCTION. 13

Some of these people thought it wrong to
obey the king's command and left the Eng-
lish Church to worship by themselves in the
way they thought was right. So they be-
came known as Separatists, because they
separated from the English Church. But
King James was true to his word and did
harry them out of the land. They went to
Holland first, but later, came as Pilgrims to
the new world and settled Plymouth in the
year 1620.

Those called Puritans remained in the
English Church patiently hoping that the re-
forms they wished would be made sometime.
But they were cruelly treated by the king.
A court called the Court of High Commis-
sion fined and imprisoned them if they said
anything against the regular forms of wor-
ship or met by themselves to worship in a
different way. Ministers who were known
to be, or suspected of being, Puritans, were

14 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

arrested and kept in horrible prisons until
they promised to give up their Puritan ideas.
If they refused, their churches were taken
away from them and they were made to suf-
fer great hardships.

But this was not the only reason so many
of the English people were unhappy. They
suffered in another way. When King James
wanted more money than Parliament gave
him (and he always did) he taxed the people
without their consent. Now this was a viola-
tion of that famous document called " Magna
Charta" in which an earlier English king had
agreed to lay no taxes upon the people with-
out the consent of Parliament. But King
James did not care about that. If anyone
refused to pay these unjust taxes or loan the
King money (which he never intended to
pay back), he was taken before a court called
the " Star Chamber " and fined heavily or
put in prison. The judges of this court were

INTRODUCTION. 1$

very careful to do just what the King wished
whether it was right or not.

When King James I died in 1625 and his
son Charles became king, the Puritans hoped
for better times. They were greatly disap-
pointed for the new King was more obstinate
and tyrannical than his father, and they were
worse off than before. It was dangerous to
speak or write against the church ceremonies
or complain of the acts of the King. Those
who dared to do so had their ears cut off
or their tongues cut out.

Rather than suffer such cruelties many
Puritans left England and sought homes in
a new land where they could worship God
in their own way. Dear as their native land
was to them, their religion was more dear and
they chose to suffer exile in the new world
than do what they believed was wrong. In
1628 some wealthy Puritans under the leader-
ship of John Winthrop, John Cotton and

l6 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Thomas Hooker, formed what was called the
" Company of the Massachusetts Bay." The
King gave them a charter for he was very
willing to get rid of troublesome subjects and
have his new lands across the Atlantic set-
tled. Then they came to New England and
founded the town of Boston in 1630. Among
those who helped to form this company and
spent time and money to make it a success,
were two men whose names became famous
later as the founders of the colony of New
Haven. Those men were John Davenport
and Theophilus Eaton.

STORIES
OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

CHAPTER I.

How Some Puritans Left England and
Went to Quinnipiac.

Nearly three hundred years ago there lived
in the city of Coventry, near the center of
England, two boys named John Davenport
and Theophilus Eaton. The father of young
Davenport was mayor of the city and Mr.
Eaton was the minister there. The boys
were schoolmates and great friends. This
friendship lasted to the end of their lives and
had a good deal to do with the founding of
the city of New Haven.

Mayor Davenport's son was a bright young
boy and a good scholar. When he was six-

l8 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

teen years old he was sent to Oxford Col-
lege, and, later, became a minister of the
English Church. Mr. Eaton wanted his boy
to become a minister, too, but Theophilus
thought he would rather be a merchant. So
he went to London and, in a few years, be-
came very rich. Thus the two boys became
separated ; but they did not forget each other
and before many years they were together
again.

In the year 1624, just before King James
I died, John Davenport became the minister
of St. Stephen's church in Coleman street,
London. He was then twenty-seven years
old. People liked to hear him preach, and
his church was always filled. Among the
rich merchants who went to church there
was Mr. Davenport's old friend, Theophilus
Eaton. He belonged to a wealthy trading
company and had travelled through the Baltic
Sea. At one time he was the Ambassador of
King James at the Court of Denmark. It
may be that he had something to do with

JOHN DAYKNI'OKT.
From a, picture in possession of Yale University.

SETTLEMENT AT QUINNIPIAC. 19

making his old schoolmate minister of St.
Stephen's church.

It was not long before both Mr. Davenport
and Mr. Eaton became strong Puritans.
In 1628 they helped to form the Massachu-
setts Bay Company although they were not
then ready to leave England themselves; for
they had not yet suffered from the injustice
of the King. Still they were very willing to
help others who wanted to go to New Eng-
land. A few years later they were very glad
to go themselves, and this is the way it came
about.

In the year 1633 King Charles I made Wil-
liarft Laud Archbishop of Canterbury. Now
the Archbishop of Canterbury was the high-
est officer in the English Church. It was his
business to see that the laws of the Church
were obeyed. This William Laud hated the
Puritans and everybody knew that he would
treat them very harshly. So far Mr. Daven-
port had escaped punishment, for not many
knew that he was a Puritan. But William
Laud found it out before he was made Arch-

2O STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

bishop. Mr. Davenport soon learned that it
would not be safe for him to stay in England.
So before he could be arrested he fled to
Holland. He went to Amsterdam where he
preached for several years. But he did not
like it there and wanted to be with his own
people and friends. Just about that time
Reverend John Cotton wrote him a letter
from Boston urging him to come there. So
in 1636, disguising himself as a country gen-
tleman, he went back to England to see if he
could get some of his friends to go with
him to New England.

Now it so happened that Mr. Eaton want-
ed to go, too, for his brother, Samuel Eaton,
who was a Puritan minister, had been arrest-
ed and put in prison by the Court of High
Commission. Although he was freed again
it was not safe for any of the family to remain
in England longer.

Mr. Eaton was a rich man; and if the
King learned that he was a Puritan, he would
find some way to get his money.

There were a good many other Puritans

SETTLEMENT AT OUINNIPIAC. 21

who were anxious to go to New England at
that time, also, for they were being treated
more cruelly than ever by Archbishop Laud.
Besides they wanted to bring up their chil-
dren in the Puritan faith. To do that they
must live in a land where they could worship
God in their own way.

Under the leadership of Mr. Davenport
and Mr. Eaton a Company was formed to go
to New England and found a new colony.
People from different parts of England join-
ed it. There were a good many from Lon-
don and some from Yorkshire in the northern
part of England. Others were from Here-
fordshire near Wales. Still others came
from Kent in the South of England. Many
of them were merchants, but some of them
were country gentlemen and farmers.

It was not an easy matter to get away
from England in 1637, for when the King
found that wealthy Puritans were taking a
great deal of money from the country he
tried to stop them; and Archbishop Laud
.would not let them get away and escape pun-

22 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ishment if he could help it. It is certain that
Mr. Davenport and Mr. Eaton did not let
them know they were going. As it was they
had a great deal of trouble in hiring ships
to take them across the ocean. But they
finally got two. The name of one was the
Hector.

It was quite an undertaking to move from
old England to New England in those days.
People had to take with them nearly every-
thing they would need in the new settlement.
There were then no stores in New England
where they could buy everything. So they
had to take tables and chairs, beds and pil-
lows, blankets and clothing, plates and knives,
books and candles, hammers and saws, axes
and shovels and numerous other things.
They packed them up in trunks and boxes
and bundles and stowed them away in the
hold of their ship. Sometimes they carried
bricks to build chimneys. Very often they
took cows and sheep, for they must have
milk and wool. So it was a busy time get-
ting ready to go.

SETTLEMENT AT QUIXNIPIAC. 23

Then there was a great deal of business to
settle up before they could leave. There
were debts to collect and bills to pay.
Things they could not carry with them must
be sold or given to friends and neighbors.
At last there were " goodbyes " to say, and
the parting from friends and relatives they
never expected to see again, for they were
leaving the homeland forever, to live and die
and be buried in a strange country.

The good ship Hector and her companion,
bearing those who were destined to found
New Haven, set sail from London sometime
in April, 1637. The voyage across the At-
lantic in those days was a very long and tire-
some one. The ships were small and uncom-
fortable. It was often cold and rainy and
the wind whistled through the rigging so
shrilly it frightened the children. Of course
many were seasick. The food was bad and
they could have no fresh meat or vegetables.
There was no room for the children to run
about and the sailors liked to play jokes on
them. The voyage usually lasted two

24 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

months, and sometimes it was much longer.
So everybody was glad enough when land
was reached and they could get out and
stretch their legs and have something fresh
to eat and drink.

Mr. Davenport and Mr. Eaton with their
company of Puritan colonists reached Bos-
ton in June, 1637. The first thing they did
was to thank God for bringing them safely
to the end of their voyage. Then they had
to unload their goods and find a place to
stay. They received a warm welcome from
the Boston people for many of them were
old friends. They probably brought letters
and messages from relatives and certainly
they told them the latest news from England.
They, in turn, heard what was going on in
New England ; how Thomas Hooker and his
friends were building a new colony over on
the Connecticut river, and how many of their
soldiers had gone off to the war against the
Pequot Indians.

When they left England Mr. Davenport
and Mr. Eaton did not know in what part of

SETTLEMENT AT QUINNIPIAC. 2$

New England they would settle. They de-
cided to go to Boston and stay there until
they could find just the place they wanted.
Their Boston friends urged them to stay
there, for such rich men as Mr. Eaton and his
companions would make a fine addition to
the Massachusetts Bay colony. They were
even offered a place for a new town wherever
they might choose. But they did not care to
stay in Massachusetts for several reasons.
In the first place there was a quarrel in the
church at Boston over a woman named Ann
Hutchinson, who was preaching some new
and strange doctrines. Everybody was ex-
cited over her. Mr. Davenport did a great
deal to quiet this excitement and put an end
to the quarrel. But he and Mr. Eaton both
feared their people would become mixed up
in similar religious disputes if they remained
in Massachusetts. Then in the second place
they wanted to found a colony of their own
where they could govern themselves in their
own chosen way. They had heard, too, that
the King was about to send a Governor to

26 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Massachusetts and they did not wish to be
ruled in that way. Finally they were very
desirous of founding a commercial city,
where there was a good harbor. In Massa-
chusetts they would be too near Boston.

While the ship Hector was sailing across
the Atlantic in that spring of 1637, the Eng-
lish settlers of New England were having a
fierce war with the Pequot Indians. In the
month of May the Puritan soldiers burned
the Indian fort near New London and killed
many hundreds of the redskins. Those who
escaped fled westward along the shore of
Long Island Sound. The soldiers from
Massachusetts and the other colonies pur-
sued them and killed nearly all of them in a
swamp near Fairfield.

As the soldiers followed the Indians along
the shore they stopped several days at a
place called Quinnipiac, (or Long-water-land)
for they thought some of the Pequots were
hidden there. The English liked the place
very much and Captain Stoughton wrote to
Boston that it was the best place for a set-

SETTLEMENT AT QUINNIPIAC. 27

tlement that he had seen anywhere. When
he went home from the war in August he
told Mr. Eaton all about it, describing the
fine harbor with the rivers emptying into it
and the broad rich meadows on all sides.
Mr. Eaton was so much interested in this ac-
count that he thought he would go and see
for himself. So he took a number of men
from his company and sailed around to the
harbor at Quinnipiac.

Just what Mr. Eaton did while he was there
isn't known. But he probably tramped
through the woods to see if the trees were
good for timber and masts; he looked over
the meadows and examined the harbor to see
how deep the water was; he found the best
landing places and perhaps caught some fish
and clams. He probably looked for springs
of good water and hunted up the Indians to
learn how many there were and if they were
friendly to white men. Perhaps he climbed
to the top of East Rock to look over the
surrounding country, who knows? What-
ever he did it is certain that he was so well

28 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

pleased with Quinnipiac that he decided to
leave some of his men there to spend the
winter and make a beginning of a new set-
tlement. It was too late in the year to go
back to Massachusetts and get the rest of the
company. It would be better for them to
spend the winter in Boston and not move
until spring.

Mr. Eaton himself went back to Boston and
reported what he had done. It was quickly
decided that Quinnipiac should be the place
for their settlement. Then all looked eager-
ly forward to the early spring-time when they
could go there and begin the building of
their new homes. How slowly the time
seemed to go ! Many a long winter evening
was spent in planning their houses or get-
ting their tools in readiness for the work.
It is not hard to imagine that Mr. Eaton
' made a rough map of Quinnipiac and discuss-
ed with the rest how they should lay out
their town, and where each should have his
house and lot. Then they could go right to
work when they reached there.

SETTLEMENT AT QUINNIPIAC. 29

If it seemed a long winter at Boston it
must have seemed a much longer one to the
men left at Quinnipiac. There were seven
of them under the leadership of Joshua At-
water. They lived in a small hut which they
built near what is now the corner of Con-
gress avenue and Meadow street. No doubt
they found enough to do to keep them busy.
They cleared away the underbrush; they cut
down trees and sawed them into boards ; they
built a few huts for those who were coming
in the spring; they set traps to catch beaver
and rabbits ; they traded with the Indians
and bought their furs. At times they suf-
fered great hardship. It was a very cold
winter and the snow lay deep. One of their
number became sick and died. His com-
panions buried him near the hut. So they
were glad enough when spring came and the
snow began to melt and the ice went out of
the rivers, for soon they would see their
friends sail into the harbor to join them.

CHAPTER II.

How the Founders of New Haven Built
a City Four-Square.

About two hundred and fifty persons came
to New England with Mr. Davenport and
Mr. Eaton; of these about fifty were men,
the rest women, children and servants. By
the time they were ready to leave Boston
and go to Quinnipiac, quite a number of
Massachusetts people had joined them. So,
the small schooner which carried them from
Boston to their new home was pretty heavily
loaded. ' Perhaps that was one reason they
were so long on the voyage for it took them
two weeks to reach the end of their journey.
The water was probably rough and the wind
cold and raw, for they sailed during the
early April of a very backward spring.

As the founders of the future citv of New

A FOUR-SQUARE CITY. 3!

Haven sailed into the harbor of Quinnipiac
that April day in 1638, how strange every-
thing looked to them and how different from
that of to-day!

No lighthouses guided the sailors,
No breakwater sheltered the bay;
No bridges of steel spanned the rivers — •
Just wilderness bordered the way*

Coming slowly up the harbor they looked
eagerly and curiously about them. Toward
the East they saw low-lying hills covered with
small oak trees, and toward the West great
forests of savins or pines, which, in later
years, were to give a name to one of New
Haven's popular shore resorts. Tall rushes
lined the shore on both sides of them. In
the distance loomed up the Red Hills, as the
Dutch called them, now known as East Rock
and West Rock.

After they passed the mouth of the West
River and neared the head of the harbor,
they saw two deep creeks extending some
distance into the country and at almost right-
angles to each other. They called one of

32 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

these East Creek and the other West Creek.
Both have entirely disappeared. The tracks
of a great railroad lie on the bed of one and
the other has become a busy street. Small
vessels could enter the East Creek as far as
the corner of the present State and Chapel
streets. But the Puritan settlers sailed up
the West Creek where their friends, who had
spent the long winter there, were awaiting
them. They made a landing near what is
now the corner of George and College streets.
Perhaps a rude wharf had been built for their
use.1

Tradition says that the schooner came to
anchor in the creek on Friday but that a
landing was not made until the next day.
What a busy Saturday that must have been!
Everybody was up bright and early getting
ready to land. Their friends ashore were
eagerly waiting to welcome them and no
doubt some of the neighboring Indians were
looking curiously on and wondering at the
strange dress of the women, for most of them
had never seen white men's wives before.

THE LANDING AT QUINNII'IAC IN 1638.

A FOUR-SQUARE CITY. 33

Soon they had landed and were hard at
work. The first thing they had to do was
to make some kind of shelter for themselves.
The weather was still quite cold and snow
often covered the ground. A few huts had
been built for them beforehand, but these
were not enough. Some tents which they
had brought with them in the vessel were
taken ashore and set up. Then more rude
huts were built and even wigwams such as
the Indians used. But strangest of all were
the cellars which some dug in the side of the
bank along the creek. These, when covered
over, were very comfortable in dry weather,
but damp and unhealthy when it rained.

While the men were putting up the tents
and building huts, the women were busy get-
ting out the beds and clothing and pans and
kettles, for they must have a place to sleep
and something to eat. The boys and girls
helped to carry things from the landing
place to the huts but the smaller children
clung tightly to their mothers' skirts frighten-
ed at the Indians and the strangeness of the

34 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

place. What a tired lot of people that night !
And how glad they were that the next day
was Sunday!

We may be very sure that one of the first
things taken ashore at Quinnipiac that Sat-
urday was Mr. Davenport's Bible and the
sermon he was to preach the next day. Sun-
day was a day of rest and worship with those
Puritan founders of New Haven and they
hoped it would be with those who should
come after them for all time. Although they
were very busy getting settled no work could
be done on the Sabbath Day. If anyone for-
got to take some needed thing ashore the
day before he had to get along without it
until Monday. They had no church but that
did not matter ; a large oak tree with spread-
ing branches which stood near their landing
place, was good enough for them until they
could build a church.

With his people gathered about him seated
on logs and stumps and the Indians standing
around in awe, Mr. Davenport preached that
first Sunday morning at Quinnipiac on the

A FOUR-SQUARE CITY. 35

" temptations of the wilderness." This stern
Puritan minister was wise enough to foresee
unusual temptations. In a new and strange
country the people would be tempted to do
things which they would not think of doing
at home. The desire to build their new
homes as soon as possible would tempt them
to neglect their religious duties. They would
be tempted to cheat the Indians because they
were ignorant and weak. So there was need
for such a sermon. Just what Mr. Daven-
port said that April Sunday, 1638, we do not
know, but we may be very sure the people
believed his words and tried to do as he said.
In the afternoon, another minister, Mr. Prud-
den, preached, so the whole day was spent
in worship and the people had no time for
labor had they wanted it.

Monday morning found them again hard at
work. It probably took them several days
to unload everything from the vessel and
get it under cover. Meanwhile leading men
like Mr. Eaton and Mr. Goodyear were look-
ing around to see just where to lay out the;

;o STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEHL

town. As most of them expected to engage
in trade they wanted to live near together
and within a short distance of the harbor.
So they did not plan large farms for each
family but small lots each just big enough
for a house and garden. Now among these
settlers was a young man named John Brock-
ett who was a surveyor. It is said that he
left his home in England because he wanted
to marry a Puritan maiden who was in the
company. With his help a half-mile square
•,v2.; marked out ar. 1 divided ir.:: nine e:uil
parts. One side of this square lay along the
West Creek and is now George street. At
right-angles to this was another side which
bordered the East Creek and forms the pres-
ent State street. Grove and York streets
were the other two sides of the square. What
are now Church, College, Chapel, and Elm
streets divided it into nine equal parts which
they called " quarters." The central quarter
was set apart for a market-place, and has
now become the beautiful Green. The other
quarters were fenced in as soon as possible

A FOUR-SQUARE CITY. 37

and divided among the " free planters." The
free planters were those who had united
to form the company and had given money
to pay the cost of moving to New England
and building a new colony. So each free-
planter was given a lot. The size of the lot
depended partly on the amount of money
he had given, and partly on the number of
persons in his family. Mr. Eaton, who gave
the most money and had the largest family,
of course, had the largest lot. Those who
were old friends and those who had come
from the same part of England were given
lots in the same quarter where they could be
near neighbors. As there was not land
enough for all in the half-mile square, some
were given lots outside. Some of these lots
lay between what are now Meadow and lower
State streets; others were on the other side
of the West Creek.

The woods were not very thick where the
town was laid out. In some places, where
the Indians had planted corn, there were no
trees, but only tangled bushes and briers.

38 STORIES OF OLD XEW HAVEN.

As soon as possible the trees were cut down
and fences built. Some of the latter were
made of pickets and others of rough logs.
Then they made ready the ground for their
gardens. While many were busy in this way
others were getting lumber ready for use in
building houses. As they had no saw-mill,
they had to saw the logs by hand. This
was slow and hard work. We may be very
sure there was many a backache when night
came during all that first summer at Quinni-
piac. Then, too, there were wells to be dug
and boats to be built.

So the summer of 1638 was a very busy
one for the new colony, and a hard one as
well. The spring was late, the cold lasting
until May. In some places corn had to be
planted two or three times over, for it rotted
in the ground. But the harvest was a good
one and there was plenty to eat. In June,
a terrible earthquake frightened the people
and shook the little colony to its foundation.
But they kept right on building, and by late
fall most of those who came in April had

t
A FOUR-SQUARE CITV. 39

their houses ready to live in. Some were
probably log-cabins not much better than the
huts they had made at first except that the
cracks were stopped up with clay. Others
were rude frame buildings made from
squared timbers and covered with rough
boards or shingles. But a number were quite
large and stately houses, and, it is said, were
better than any other houses in New Eng-
land. It took much longer to build these,
of course, and probably they were not fin-
ished during the first year. But before the
first snow fell in the next winter the new
town was well started on its career.

Now let us see who some of the leading
men were, and where they had lots in the
half-mile square. Theophilus Eaton should
be mentioned first. He was the wealthiest
of all the founders and Governor of the col-
ony as long as he lived. His house was
probably the largest in the town and stood
on the north side of Elm street about half-
way between Church and State streets. He
needed a large house, for there was a large'

4O STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

number of persons in his family. Besides his
mother, wife and children there were several
young persons who had been placed under
his care and protection. These, with the
servants, sometimes numbered as many as
thirty. It is said that nineteen fireplaces kept
this great house warm in winter. The large
central room was furnished with fine carved
tables, chairs, and " Turkey " carpets ; and
immense brass andirons stood in its great
fireplace. In this room the whole family
gathered for their meals and for prayers.
Then, Mr. Eaton had a library and office
where he loved to spend much time in reading
and study. His brother, Samuel, lived next
door near the corner of State street ; but he
did not remain in New Haven long. He
returned to England where he died.

The lot of Mr. Davenport, the minister,
was across the street from Mr. Eaton. His
house was also large and stately, and con-
tained thirteen fireplaces. One of the most
interesting rooms m this house was the
" study," for Mr. Davenport had a great

A FOUR-SQUARE CITY. 4!

many books for those days. He spent so
much of his time with them, that the In-
dians called him " so big study man." Noth-
ing was done in the new colony without ask-
ing his advice, and all the people loved him
and paid him great reverence.

Thomas Gregson was another leading man
in the colony. His lot was on the corner of
Church and Chapel streets. The narrow
street under the Insurance Building called
Gregson Alley, owes its name to him. His
house was also one of the largest in the town.
He was a merchant and engaged in com-
merce. In 1644 he was chosen to go to
England and get a charter for the colony
from Parliament, but the ship in which he
sailed was lost at sea.

Among the rest of these " first settlers "
were George Lamberton, a famous sea cap-
tain; Nathanael Turner, the commander of
the military company; Robert Newman, in
whose great barn the free-planters met to
form a government for the colony;. William
Andrews, who kept the first " ordinary," or

42 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

hotel; John Cooper, who looked after the
fences every week; and Francis Newman,
who was lieutenant of the artillery company
and Governor after Mr. Eaton died.2

For two years after the settlement of the
town, Quinnipiac was the only name it had.
In 1640 the General Court decided to give
it a new name, and the old record of that
year says, "'This town now called New Ha-
ven." By that time it had grown to a popu-
lation of nearly five hundred and had become
the mother of other settlements. The peo-
ple who came from Herefordshire, England,
and were given the southwest quarter, all
moved to Wepowaug in 1639; there they
built a town of their own and named it Mil-
ford. A year later a number of families from
Kent, England, moved to Menunkatuck and
founded Guilford. About the same time
some people from Norfolkshire, England,
went across to Long Island and built the
town of Southhold. In 1640 New Haven
bought the territory at Rippowams from the
Indians and the same year sold it to a com-

SETTLEMENT AT QUIN NIPI AC1,. 43

pany that came from Wethersfield, Connecti-
cut. This new settlement was named Stam-
ford. In 1644 Totoket was settled by an-
other company from Wethersfield and given
the name Branford. All these new towns
united with the town of New Haven under
the same government and thus formed the
" New Haven Colony."

CHAPTER III.
How Momaugin Sold Quinnipiac.

When the founders of New Haven began
their settlement at Quinnipiac in 1638, the
Dutch at Manhattan (New York) did not
like it at all. They declared that Quinnipiac
belonged to them, and the English had no
right to settle there. But the English claim-
ed it, too, and paid no attention to the Dutch.
Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport, however, as
they were wise and honest men, thought that,
after all, Quinnipiac belonged to the Indians
who lived there. At any rate they did not
think it would be right to stay there without
paying the redmen for the land. Thus they
would obtain not only a good title to the soil,
but the goodwill and friendship of their dusky
neighbors as well.

Now there were only a few Indians living

MOMAUGIN SOLD QUINNIPIAC. 45

in the country around Quinnipiac in '1638.
Great heaps of oyster shells found along the
shore by the English proved that there had
been a large number of them years before.
But wars with other tribes, famines and terri-
ble diseases had killed them. There were
hardly enough left to make one small tribe,
and they were called the Quinnipiacs.
Momaugin, the Sachem of this tribe, could
find but forty-seven men and boys for his
band of warriors; and there were but a few
women and children besides. They lived in
what is now East Haven. Beyond East
Rock there were a few more under the lead
of Montowese, and there were only ten men
among them. So, by 1639, there were prob-
ably as many, if not more, English people
at Quinnipiac than Indians.

These Indians had long lived in great fear
of their enemies, the Pequots, and especially
of the Mohawks, who came from the Hudson
River region, and treated them with great
cruelty, sometimes forcing them to pay long
strings of wampum for taxes. So terrible

46 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

was the war-whoop of a Mohawk to their
ears, that they had several times fled to the
settlement at Hartford for protection. And
so when the English came to live near them,
and on their own lands, the Quinnipiacs were
not angry, but welcomed them as friends
and protectors.

As soon as Mr. Eaton's company decided
to go to Quinnipiac a letter was sent (prob-
ably by an Indian runner) to the men who
were staying there, asking them to make ar-
rangements with the Indians for the pur-
chase of their land. No written agreement
could be made then, for the Indians and the
white men did not understand each other
very well. But the Indians made it plain
that the English would be welcomed; and the
price offered for their land was very satis-
factory to them. So when Mr. Eaton ar-
rived they were ready to sign a treaty of sale.

It was some time before the actual pur-
chase could be made, however. In the first
place they must find some white man who
could speak the Indian language and explain

MOMAUGIN SOLD QUINNIPIAC. 47.

the treaty to the Quinnipiacs. And then it
would be better to wait awhile and see how
the redmen behaved. Then they could judge
better what the terms of the treaty ought
to be. This was a very wise thing to do, for
before the first summer was passed the In-
dians were found to be very troublesome
neighbors. In fact they were a nuisance. Of
course, they were not used to the habits
of the English and they did some things
which were not very nice, and others which
Mr. Davenport probably thought were quite
wrong. They used to walk right into the
English huts without knocking or asking
permission. They often stole fish from the.
English nets and used boats and canoes with-
out leave. They set traps where the cattle
would be caught and injured. They some-
times came into the town on Sunday to trade,
and hung around the houses while the peo-
ple were at church.

Of course the English could not allow such
things to go on very long, and so, when the
treaty was drawn up, Mr. Eaton made the

48 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Indians agree not to do them any more.
Now the only white man living anywhere
near Quinnipiac, who could speak the In-
dian language well, was Thomas Stanton of
Hartford. So they sent for him to come and
explain the treaty to the Indians. It was the
last of November, 1638, before Mr. Stanton
arrived. Word was then sent to Momaugin,
and he and his Councillors came into the
town to hear what the strange looking paper
with the English writing on it meant. The
signing of this treaty between the English
and Indians at Quinnipiac probably took
place somewhere on the " market-place."
Perhaps Momaugin and his Councillors,
wrapped in blankets, with the leading men of
the colony, sat in a circle about a fire, for
the season was late. About them stood the
rest of the people curiously watching the
Indians and listening to the reading of the
treaty. Mr. Stanton, standing in their midst,
spoke in a loud, clear voice and explained
each word and sentence of the writing to the
Quinnipiacs in their own language. Momau-

MOMAUGIN SOLD QUINNIPIAC. 49

gin no doubt showed his approval by fre-
quent grunts, and, when the reading was
finished, signed the document by making his
" mark " in the form of a bow. Several of
his Councillors also made their " marks,"
and then, underneath these, was the " mark "
of the squaw Sachem, Shampishuh, the sis-
ter of Momaugin.

Now let us see what the terms of this treaty
were, and how they were carried out. In
the first place Momaugin declared that he
owned all the land in Quinnipiac and alone
had the right to sell it. Mr. Eaton did not
wish to give others a chance to claim it later.
Then the treaty stated that the Indians free-
ly gave up to Mr. Eaton and the other Eng-
lishmen, all right to all the land, rivers, ponds
and trees, with all the liberties belonging to
them, in Quinnipiac, as far as it extended
East, West, North and South. In return for
all this they asked for but three things : first,
a place in what is now East Haven where
they could live and plant their corn ; second,
the right to hunt and fish in Quinnipiac; and,

CO STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

third, protection from the Mohawks and their
other enemies.

No doubt the English were very glad to
get so much land and timber so cheaply, and
readily agreed to these conditions. But, re-
membering how badly these same Indians had
acted during the few months they had lived
at Quinnipiac, Mr. Eaton and his friends had
them agree to the following terms. They
must not set traps where cattle might be
caught or hurt; or frighten away or steal
fish from the English nets. They were not
to come into the town on Sunday to trade
or hang around the houses while the English
were at church. They were not to open the
latch of any Englishman's door without per-
mission, or remain in the house when told to
leave. They were not to take any boat or
canoe belonging to the English without the
consent of the owner. Not more than six
at a time were to come into the town with
bows and arrows or other weapons ; nor must
they in any way harm an English man, wom-
an or child. They must pay for cattle they

MOMAUGIN SOLD QUINNIPIAC. 5!

killed or injured and return those that stray-
ed away. They must not allow other In-
dians to come and live with them without the
consent of the English; and they promised
to tell the English of any wicked plots against
them. Finally, they agreed to have all
wrong-doers punished by the English.

On their part the English agreed to pay
the Indians for any damage done them, and
to punish all who wronged them in any way.
Then in return for all they received, they
gave to Momaugin and his followers these
tilings : one dozen coats, one dozen spoons,
one dozen hoes, one dozen hatchets, one doz-
en " porengers," 3two dozen knives, and four
cases of French knives and scissors.

Two weeks later (in December) the Eng-
lish bought some more land from Montowese
and his small band of warriors who lived be-
yond East Rock. The terms of this treaty
were nearly the same as those with Momau-
gin. The Indians were given what is now
called Montowese for their home, and had
permission to hunt and fish like the Quinni-

C2 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

piacs. They promised to pay damages when
their dogs injured the English cattle, and the
English agreed to pay them damages when
their hogs injured the Indians' corn. Monto-
wese and his followers were given one dozen
coats, the one for Montowese himself being
" made up after ye4 English Manner."

The land which the Indians sold in these
two treaties is now covered by the towns
of New Haven, East Haven, Branford, North
Branford, North Haven, Wallingford, Chesh-
ire, Hamden, Bethany, Woodbridge and
Orange. It would seem to us that Mr. Eaton
and his friends paid a very small sum for
this great tract of land which is now worth
so many millions of dollars. But we must
remember that it was unimproved land and
had to be cleared and made fit for use by the
English. And then it was really not worth
much to the Indians. They could not use all
of it, and a small place grew corn enough to
support their few numbers. They could still
hunt and fish in the remainder, and that was
all they had ever done with it. And then,

MOMAUGIN HIS MARK.

MA.NTOWESK — HIS MARK.

MOMAUGIN SOLD QUINNIPIAC. 53

too, these few knives and hatchets and hoes
were greatly valued by the redmen. That
was not all they received for it, however.
The best part of the bargain, they thought,
\vas the protection the English gave them
from the Mohawks.

These agreements with the Indians were
faithfully observed by the English settlers at
Quinnipiac. They always treated their sav-
age neighbors with justice and kindness, not
only because they wanted to keep them
friendly, but because it was right. If an In-
dian was wronged or injured by a white man,
justice was done. When an Indian guide
named Wash was attacked and had his arm
broken by an angry sailor, because he asked
for his pay, the Court sent the seaman to
prison and ordered the doctor to care for
the broken arm. At another time a man
stole some meat from an Indian named
Ourance. He had to pay the Indian double
the price of the meat, and twenty shillings
fine to the town, and then sit in the stocks
awhile.

54 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Once the Indians complained that the hogs
of the English ate their corn and made their
squaws and children cry. They asked the
English to help them fence in their land to
keep the hogs out. At the same time the
Sagamore wanted the town to give him a
coat because he was old and poor and couldn't
work. So the town gave the poor old In-
dian warrior a coat and appointed men " fit
and able " to help build fences around the
Indian cornfields. As a result of these kind
acts no Indian tomahawk was ever raised
against New Haven nor an Indian war-
whoop^ ever heard in its streets.5

CHAPTER IV.

How the Laws of Moses Became the
Laws of New Haven.

When the founders of New Haven came
to Quinnipiac in 1638, they brought no laws
with them except the laws of Moses which
they found in the Bible. For more than a
year they got along without any settled form
of government, merely agreeing to do every-
thing according to these laws. During that
time, as well as later, Mr. Eaton was looked
up to by all as a father and judge. If two
persons got into a quarrel, they asked Mr.
Eaton to settle it. Then he took down his
Bible and read the law on the subject and
decided the dispute accordingly. When any-
one did something wrong, Mr. Eaton look-
ed in the Bible again to see what the punish-
ment should be; if he was not sure about it,

56 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

he probably talked with Mr. Davenport and
found out what punishment he thought was
best.

A whipping post was set up somewhere on
the market-place and some " stocks " built
with which to punish wrong-doers. Perhaps
there was little need for them the first few
months because the people were too busy to
get into very serious mischief. Still it was
a wise plan to have them ready, otherwise
some evil-minded persons would be tempted
to make trouble.

The agreement they made to go by these
old Mosaic laws was written down in their
records in the following words :

" In the layinge of the first fowndations of this
plantation and jurisdiction, vpon [upon] a full debate
wth [with] due & serious consideration it was
aggreed, concluded & setled as a fundamental! law,
not to bee disputed or questioned hereafter, that the
judiciall lawes of God, as they were deliuered [deliv-
ered] by Moses, & expownded in other parts of
scripture, so farr as they are a fence [defence] to the
morrall law, & neither tipicall, [typical] nor ceremo-
niall, nor had refference to Canaan shalbe accounted of
morrall & binding equity and force, and as God shall
helpe shalbe a constant direction for all proceedings

THE LAWS OF MOSES. $'fi

here, & a gennerall rule in all courts of Justice ho\r
to judge betwixt partie and partie, & how to punis'u
offenders, till the same may be branched out into per-
ticulers [particulars] hereafter."

Not only did these founders of New Ha-
ven have no laws but those of the Bible when
they landed; they had no charter of govern-
ment even. They knew King Charles would
not have given them one if they had asked
it. So they had no written constitution of
any kind to tell them how they were to be
governed. But that did not trouble them
much, for they knew they could govern
themselves quite well. They waited more
than a year before they decided what form
of government to establish for their new col-
ony, and there were several good reasons
for this.

In the first place it was a very important
matter and must not be settled in a hurry.
For awhile they were too busy building their
new homes to attend to it. Then some of
their number were planning to build a sep-
arate town nearby, and did not care to say

58 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

anything about the kind of government New
Haven should have. These people did move
away very soon and founded the town of
Milford.

But there was a still more important rea-
son for this delay. We have already learned
that the early settlers of New Haven were
strong Puritans who left England because
they wished to worship God in a different and
more simple way than the English Church
allowed. Now, while they all agreed as to
the way they ought to worship, they did not
all agree as to the way they should be gov-
erned,

Mr. Davenport came to New England with
the ambition to found a state " whose design
is religion." That is, he thought that, as the
main object of a state should be to train men
and women to be God-fearing and Christian,
so the government of the state ought to be
managed by Christians only, and by Chris-
tians he meant members of the Church. They
alone should have the right to vote and hold
office, for they alone were fitted for such

THE LAWS OF MOSES. 59

duties. Mr. Eaton and most of the others in
the company believed in the same way.

There were some among their number,
however, who, like the Pilgrims, had sep-
arated from the English Church. These Sep-
aratists believed that in civil government men
should have the right to vote and hold office
even if they were not members of the Church.
So when these founders of New Haven came
to talk over the question of what form of
government they should have, they did not
all quite agree. Mr. Davenport was, of
course, the leader of those who believed that
only free planters belonging to the Church
should rule. He tried to prove this from the
Bible. Reverend Samuel Eaton, brother of
Theophilus Eaton, was the leader of the other
party, and thought that all the free planters
should have the right to vote.

After they had discussed the question for
a long time, finally, in June, 1639, they all
met to decide it. This meeting was held in
Mr. Newman's big barn which stood not far
from the present building of the New Haven

60 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Colony Historical Society on Grove street.
Mn Davenport did most of the talking at
this meeting and told the people what form
of government he thought they ought to
have. A number of questions were written
down and read aloud by Mr. Newman, and
then voted upon. Mr. Davenport urged
them to think very carefully about each one,
and not vote for it unless they were sure
they were in favor of it. And to make it
doubly sure they voted on each question
twice.

They first agreed that the Bible contained
a " perfect rule " for the government of the
State as well as of the Church. They next
voted to go by the laws of the Bible in all
their public affairs, just as they had done
during the first year. Then they all declared,
by holding up their hands, that they wished
to become members of the Church they were
about to form. At last they took up the
important question as to who should have
the right to vote and hold office. They
finally decided that only Church members

THE LAWS OF MOSES. 6l

should have that right, although Mr. Samuel
Eaton would not agree to it, and said that
all the free planters ought to vote.

Before the meeting was ended they ap-
pointed twelve men, who, in turn, chose sev-
en of their number to organize a Church,
So these seven men became the " pillars "
of the first church formed at New Haven.
Their names were Theophilus Eaton, John
Davenport, Robert Newman, Matthew Gil-
bert, Thomas Fugill, John Punderson and
Jeremiah Dixon. The Church was formed
in August, 1639, and, soon after, a meeting-
house was built in the center of the market-
place. The next October the voters met and
held their first election. Mr. Eaton was
chosen " magistrate for the tearme of one
whole yeare " and others were appointed to
assist him. Thus Mr. Eaton became the first
Governor of the New Haven colony, and was
re-elected every year until his death.

On the day after his election the Governor
had to try an Indian who was charged with
murder. A few days later this Indian was

THE LAWS OF MOSES. 63

stole nearly five thousand pins from Mrs.
Lamberton together with some " lynning "
[linen] and a " jugge." She also stole
things from Mrs. Gilbert, taking them out
of a " tub of water in the colde of winter
when the famyly was att prayer." She went
to visit a friend, at Connecticut, and stole a
napkin from her. She was certainly a bad
thief and needed severe punishment. The
old record gives the sentence of the Court
as follows:

" Now forasmuch as itt appeares to have beene her
trade she having beene twice whipped att Connec-
tecutt, and thatt still she continues a notorious
theefe and a Iyer, itt was ordered thatt she should be
seveerly whipped and restore whatt is found wth
[with] her in specie, and make double restitution for
the rest."

On the same day another thief was tried
by the Court:

" Andrew Low, Junr [Junior] for breaking into Mr.
Lings house, where he brake open a cup(board) and
took from thence some strong water, and 6d in
mony, and ransackt all the house from roome to
roome, and left open the dores, for wch [which] fact
he being comitted to prison brake forth and so es-

64 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

caped, and still remaines horrible obstinate and re-
bellious against his parents, and incorrigable vnder
[under] all the meanes thatt have beene vsed [used]
to reclaime him, wherevpon itt was ordered thatt he
should be as seveerly whipped as the rule will beare,
and to worke with his father as a prisoner wth [with]
a lock vpon his leg, so as he may nott escape."

Therefore Andrew was taken to the mar-
ket-place and tied to the whipping post.
Then forty blows of the whip were struck
on his bare back, for that was as many as
the Bible rule would allow; and they were
very careful to do exactly as the Bible said.
Thus Governor Eaton and his Assistants
judged criminals and punished them accord-
ing to the " laws of Moses."

The General Court or Town-meeting was
one of the most important branches of the
government of the New Haven Colony.
This was a meeting of all the free planters
to talk over town affairs and pass laws; but
only those who were church members could
make the laws. At the October meeting
they elected the Governor and other offi-
cers. The meeting was called by the beat-

THE LAWS OF MOSES. 65

ing of a drum and any who staid away were
fined. Sometimes they were excused be-
cause they didn't hear the drum, or were
away looking for lost cows, or someone in
the family was very sick. One of the first
things this town-meeting had to attend to
was the question of miltary protection.
There were two enemies whom they always
feared, the Indians and the Dutch. For-
tunately they never had any trouble from
either one, and perhaps the reason was be-
cause they were always prepared to defend
themselves.

New Haven, for the first few years of its
history, was a sort of armed camp. All men
between the ages of sixteen and sixty were
required to have " a good serviceable gunne,
a good sword, bandeleers,6 a rest, all to be
allowed by the military officers, one pownd
[pound] of good gun powder, fower [four]
pownd of bullets, either fitted for his gunne
or pistoll bulletts, wth [with] fower faddome
[fathom] of match fit for service wth every
match locke, & 4 or 5 good flints fitted for

66 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

every firelock peece [piece], all in good or-
der & ready for any suddayne [sudden] oc-
casion, service or view." The military com-
panies drilled every Saturday and the sol-
diers had target practice. A mark was set
up to " shout [shoot] att for some priz
[prize]." An artillery company was also
formed.

One of the regular duties of the soldiers
was to keep the watch. Seven men kept
watch every night and a watch-house was
built on the market-place for their use. At
sundown the drummer beat the drum to call
the watch-men together. During the night
these officers walked about the town look-
ing out for enemies or fire. Strict laws were
made to compel the watchmen to perform
their duties faithfully. On Sunday one com-
pany went to church armed and sat near the
door while a soldier kept watch in the tower
on the roof. No one could furnish an In-
dian with a gun or other weapon without
an order from the Governor, for they wish-
ed to keep them unarmed.

THE LAWS OF MOSES. 6/

Laws were also passed to protect the town
from fire. The roofs of many of the houses
were of thatch or straw, and would easily
catch fire. Of course only wood was burn-
ed in their fire-places and the chimneys had
to be cleaned very often or the soot would
catch fire. It was the special duty of Good-
man Cooper to sweep chimneys. People
could clean their own, of course, but they
had to do it well or Goodman Cooper would
complain of them. Each house was also fur-
nished with a ladder reaching to the roof;
and fire-hooks were provided by the town.
Then, as another measure of safety, people
were not allowed to make bonfires in the
town. As a result of all these arrangements
New Haven never suffered from serious fires.

The town-meeting passed a good many
laws about fences, too. The fences which
were built at first soon rotted and were easily
broken down by cattle. This made a lot of
trouble and cows often got into the corn-
fields ; they found that even pigs would swim

68 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

small streams and get through weak fences.
Many people kept goats and let them feed
on the market-place; but they found that
goats could climb fences and get into gar-
dens and orchards and do much damage.
To put a stop to all this trouble they passed
laws compelling house owners to repair their
fences or build better ones; and no goats
were allowed to feed on the market-place
without a keeper.

Then this old colonial town-meeting look-
ed after a number of other things. Bridges
had to be built and kept in repair ; and where
they could not build bridges they had to have
ferries. Boats and canoes, which were hast-
ily made when they came to Quinnipiac, be-
came leaky and unfit for use after awhile.
After they had had a number of accidents
from the use of such boats, two men were
appointed to examine them and mark the
good ones. Then if a person rented an un-
marked and leaky boat, he was fined. Some
people got into the habit of borrowing oars

THE LAWS OF MOSES. 69

and paddles and carts and wheelbarrows with-
out asking the owners' permission; then,
when they were through using them forgot
to return them. So a law was passed to
stop that.

The town-meeting made laws about mon-
ey, also. The most common coins were Eng-
lish shillings and Spanish " peeces of eight."
But Indian money, or " wampum," was used
as well. This consisted of strings of polish-
ed beads made from shells. The white beads
were worth twice as much as the black ones.
Sometimes people tried to pay their debts
with the black wampum because it was not
as valuable ; and some even put it on the con-
tribution plate in church. It was hard to
get rid of this poor wampum, so the town-
meeting made a law fixing its value, and Mr.
Goodyear was appointed to judge whether
wampum was good or not.

Then they had to make laws about weights
and measures. Men were appointed to ex-
amine all the weights and measures used in

JQ STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

the colony. Those which they found to be
correct they marked with a seal NH. Ever
since then there have been " Sealers of
weights and measures."

Thus we see what a great variety of mat-
ters the old colonial town-meeting had to at-
tend to, and how much there was to do, to
get the new government into running order.

'CHAPTER V.

How a Great Ship Went out through the
Ice and Came Back in a Summer Cloud.

In proportion to the number of its inhab-
itants, New Haven was the richest colony
in New England. Some of its Puritan set-
tlers were quite wealthy for those early days.
Many of them had been merchants and trad-
ers in England, and wished to engage in the
same business in America and make their
new colony a commercial city. One reason
Quinnipiac was chosen as the place for their
settlement was because of its deep and shel-
tered harbor, where ships could safely anchor
and land their cargoes. And then, in laying
out the town, the central square, or " quar-
ter," was reserved for a public " market-
place " where goods of all kinds could be
bought and sold.

•J2 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

The colonial town-meeting made a num-
ber of laws to encourage commerce and aid
traders. Ship captains were forbidden to
throw ballast overboard into the channel of
the harbor lest it should become filled up.
Ship carpenters were excused from military
service that they might spend all their time
building ships. No one was allowed to cut
a spruce tree without the consent of the
governor, for they wanted to preserve them,
and use them all for masts. As the " flattes "
prevented large boats from coming up to the
shore, a wharf was built ; this was near where
the ruins of the old City Market are, now.
So, in these different ways they tried to help
those who went down to the sea in ships.

It was not long before Captain Lamberton
was making voyages to Delaware and Vir-
ginia; and others to Massachusetts Bay,
Salem, Connecticut and Manhattan. Then a
little later New Haven vessels sailed to the
Barbadoes, the Bermudas and the West In-
dies. They carried away furs, clapboards
and shingles, wheat, pork, and other prod-

THE SHIP IN A SUMMER CLOUD. 73

ucts, and brought back cotton, sugar, and
molasses. But these voyages were not very
successful. The expense of building or buy-
ing new ships was so heavy, and the cost of
sending out a trading expedition from a new
colony was so great, that there was little left
for profit. And then, at first, they were apt
to make mistakes, and so meet with mis-
fortunes. If they sold lumber that was not
well seasoned, people in the West Indies
would not buy any more of them. A man in
Milford made flour and biscuit and New Ha-
ven traders shipped it to Virginia. It was
such poor stuff that it did not sell well, and
the traders complained of it. So the Milford
baker had to go to New Haven and explain
matters. He confessed the fault and declar-
ed it was due to bad grinding; but he prom-
ised to do better in the future. The dam-
age had been done, however, and it was hard
for New Haven merchants to sell flour or
biscuit in Virginia after that.

But the worst misfortune that came to the
New Haven traders during the first few years

74 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

occurred at Delaware. The Indians at Quin-
nipiac were so few in number, that the trade
in furs, there, did not amount to as much as
was expected. So Mr. Lamberton and a
few others decided to build some trading sta-
tions at Delaware Bay where they could carry
on the fur trade with the Delaware and Sus-
quehannah Indians. For a few hundred dol-
lars they bought all the land in New Jersey,
from Cape May to the mouth of the Dela-
ware river. Some twenty men went down
there to build a few huts and engage in trade.
On their way they stopped at Manhattan
where they met the Dutch Governor, who
promptly ordered them to go home again.
He said that New Jersey belonged to the
Dutch and no Englishman could settle there.
This did not frighten the New Haven men,
however, and they went on. But they prom-
ised to acknowledge the Dutch government
if they found that they were in Dutch terri-
tory.

Mr. Lamberton and his companions soon
learned that not only was the land they had

THE SHIP IN A SUMMER CLOUD. 75

bought claimed by the Dutch, but the Swedes
who lived near, said it belonged to them,
also. Nevertheless they went to work, built
their huts and began to trade. In 1642 the
Swedes and Dutch united to drive the Eng-
lish away. A few Dutch ships sailed around
to Delaware Bay and landed a small force.
With the help of the Swedes they attacked
the New Haven men, made some of them
prisoners, drove the rest away, seized their
goods and burned their huts. The Swedes
captured Mr. Lamberton and put him in
prison. They charged him with the crime
of trying to stir up the Indians to war; but
they could not prove it. They fined him
heavily because he had traded at Delaware
and then sent him home.

This affair was a severe blow to the New
Haveners and cost them many thousands of
dollars. They tried to persuade the other
New England colonies to help punish the
Dutch and Swedes but without success. Mr.
Lamberton was sent down to Delaware again
to demand satisfaction from the Swedes but

76 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

nothing ever came of his visit, and the New
Haven men never recovered damages for the
loss of their goods and huts. The claim to
the land which had been purchased was not
given up, however, and several years later
another unsuccessful attempt was made to
build a settlement at Delaware Bay. A few
of the New Haven people were quite discour-
aged by the failure of this enterprise and
feared that their ambitions to build up a
successful commercial city at Quinnipiac
would never be realized. But the rest, al-
though discouraged, did not despair and
bravely went on with their plans.

New Haven merchants had always been
very desirous to have ships sail direct to
England and return, and thus save time and
trouble; for so far, they had had to go to
Massachusetts Bay, first. This was an en-
terprise which required large ships and no
one person could afford to build them. In
1645, to make good the losses they had met
with at Delaware and other places, the lead-
ing men of the town formed a company and

THE SHIP IN A SUMMER CLOUD. 77

bought a large ship which, it is said, was built
in Rhode Island, and would carry one hun-
dred and fifty tons cargo. All who could
possibly spare any money took stock in this
company. Then Mr. Eaton, Mr. Goodyear,
Mr. Malbon and Mr. Gregson formed a sec-
ond company, called the " Company of Mer-
chants of New Haven/' and hired this ship
of the first company to make a trading voy-
age to England. So, nearly, everyone in the
town was interested in this enterprise and did
what was possible to make it a success.

Just what the name of this vessel was is
not known. Some have thought that it was
called the " Fellowship." In the old records
it is always mentioned as the " great shippe."
When it sailed into New Haven harbor, peo-
ple went down to the wharf to look at it.
Many rowed out to examine it. Old sailors
did not like the looks of it. Mr. Lamberton,
who was made the captain, thought it was
a " cranky " boat, and would easily capsize
in the middle of the ocean. But whether they
thought their new ship was seaworthy or not

78 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

they went right to work and made ready for
the voyage. The captain rigged the masts
to suit himself and had a fine new set of
blocks or pulleys made for the tackling. Then
they filled the hold with everything they
could find to sell. They put in lumber and
hides, pease and wheat, and a lot of beaver
skins. Some put in their silver plates and
spoons; for they needed other things more,
and their silverware was all they had left with
which to buy them. Besides these there were
some of Mr. Davenport's sermons which were
to be printed in England. This cargo was
worth many thousands of dollars, and, if the
voyage was successful, would bring a hand-
some profit; but if it was a failure, the loss
would be ruinous, for it was like putting all
their eggs in one basket.

The passengers who sailed in this ship
formed the most precious part of its burden.
There was a large number of them, all going
home to England, and for various reasons.
Mr. Gregson was one. He had charge of
the cargo and was going to see if he couldn't

THE SHIP IN A SUMMER CLOUD. 79

get a charter for New Haven Colony from
Parliament. Nathanael Turner, who was
captain of the military company, was another.
Mrs. Stephen Goodyear was going home to
see friends and relatives. And Mrs. Wilkes
was going to see her husband who had gone
the year before and had sent for her to join
him. Then there were many others who
wrere homesick for old England and anxious
to see their native land again.

It was in the month of January, 1646, when
the " Great Shippe " sailed away. The har-
bor was frozen over and a passage had to be
cut for the vessel three miles through the
ice. A crowd of people followed along the
side on the frozen surface, bidding farewell
to friends and loved ones with many a tear
and many a fear. Mr. Davenport was there
and prayed for their welfare and safety, but
with an anxious heart. " Lord, if it be thy
pleasure," he said in a trembling voice, " if
it be thy pleasure to bury these our friends
in the bottom of the sea, they are thine, save
them." At last the ship was free from the

8O STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ice and out of the harbor. Her sails filled
with the cold wind and she soon disappeared
in the gray East. The people watched her
until she was out of sight and then slowly
and silently walked back to the town and
their winter's loneliness; but not without
thoughts of the happy home-coming in the
fall.

The months passed away very slowly that
winter. The thoughts of all were on the
absent ship. But summer came at last and
with it the arrival of ships from England.
But they brought no tidings of Captain Lam-
berton or his ship. This did not cause much
anxiety, however, for often a vessel was driv-
en far out of her course and was slow in
reaching the end of her voyage. So they
waited with patience and hope. But the
months went by and still no news. Friends
became anxious. Others tried to cheer them
by suggesting reasons for the delay. " Per-
haps a storm has driven them to a foreign
shore," they said, or " it may be they have
been cast on some distant island and a pass-

THE SHIP IN A SUMMER CLOUD. 8l

ing ship will pick them up." Fall came and
the days grew shorter. Still no word from
the absent ship. Hope gave way to despair.
Many a home was filled with sorrow and
mourners went about the streets. They re-
alized at last that Captain Lamberton's worst
fears were come true, and the " Great
Shippe " had been lost at sea.

Another sad and dreary winter passed in
the stricken colony. And while all had given
up hope of ever seeing their lost friends
again, many longed and prayed to know if
they had really been lost at sea, or had suf-
fered some harder fate at the hands of sav-
age enemies. When summer came again it
brought an answer to their prayers, but in
a way they had never expected. During the
afternoon of a warm June day, a thunder-
storm passed over the town of New Haven
and disappeared across the water to Long
Island. Soon afterwards, about an hour be-
fore sunset, the people beheld a wonderful
sight. The " Great Shippe," whose loss they
had mourned so long, came sailing in

82 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

a cloud through the air into the mouth
of the harbor. There could be no mis-
take about it. There were the keel, hull,
masts and rigging of the same ship that had
sailed away so many months before. And
there on the deck, standing erect, was Cap-
tain Lamberton pointing with his sword out
to sea. On came this wonderful ship, her
sails bending before the wind, until one
standing on the shore could almost toss a
stone on board. Suddenly there came a
change. Her topmasts seemed to be blown
off and hung tangled in the rigging; soon
all her masts fell overboard; then the hull
capsized and all disappeared in mist and
cloud. The people gazed upon this strange
sight with great awe. But good Mr. Daven-
port comforted them and said that God had
sent this ship of air to show them how their
friends were lost at sea.

Just as the loss of so many precious lives
crushed the spirit of the new colony, so the
loss of so much valuable property destroyed
all hopes of its commercial success. In fact,

THE IMIANTOM SHIP.

THE PHANTOM SHIP.

In Mather's Magnalia Christi,
Of the old colonial time,
May be found in prose the legend
That is here set down in rhyme.

A ship sailed from New Haven,
And the keen and frosty airs,
That filled her sails at parting,
Were heavy with good men's prayers.

" O Lord ! if it be thy pleasure " —
Thus prayed the old divine —
" To bury our friends in the ocean,
Take them for they are thine ! "

But Master Lamberton muttered,
And under his breath said he,
" This ship is so cranky and walty,
I fear our grave she will be ! "

STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

And the ships that came from England,
When the winter months were gone,
Brought no tidings of this vessel,
Nor of Master Lamberton.

This put the people to praying
That the Lord would let them hear
What in his greater wisdom
He had done with friends so dear.

And at last their prayers were answered;
It was in the month of June,
An hour before the sunset,
Of a windy afternoon,

When steadily steering landward,

A ship was seen below,

And they knew it was Lamberton, Master,

Who sailed so long ago.

On she came with a cloud of cnnvas,
Right against the wind that blew,
Until the eye could distinguish
The faces of the crew.

THE PHANTOM SHIP.

Then fell her straining topmasts,
Hanging tangled in the shrouds,
And her sails were loosened and lifted,
And blown away like clouds.

And the masts, with all their rigging,
Fell slowly, one by one,
And the hulk dilated and vanished,
As a sea-mist in the sun!

And the people who saw this marvel,
Each said unto his friend,
That this was the mould of their vessel,
And this her tragic end.

And the pastor of the village,
Gave thanks to God in prayer,
That to quiet their troubled spirits,
He had sent this Ship of Air.

H. W. LONGFELLOW, 1850.

(With the kind permission of Houghton, Mifflin
& Company.)

THE SHIP IN A SUMMER CLOUD. 83

the disaster nearly put an end to the New
Haven Colony. There was at one time se-
rious talk of moving to Ireland. And then
Oliver Cromwell, who was at the head of the
English government, offered them a place for
settlement in the island of Jamaica. But the
people feared the plague in the West Indies,
and many of them were now too old to again
undergo the hard labor of building a colony.
So they gave up their ambitions of becoming
wealthy traders and turned their attention to
farming. They soon found that they could
make a comfortable living in that way and
were contented. But they never forgot the
sad year of 1646, and how their happiness
and hopes had gone down in the " Great
Shippe."

CHAPTER VI.

How New Haven Hid the Judges Who
Condemned a King to Death.

There is no story of old New Haven that is
more interesting or so full of strange and
exciting adventures as the story of the Regi-
cides, Edward Whalley, William Goffe, and
John Dixwell. These men were brave fight-
ers in Oliver Cromwell's Puritan army; and
when it was determined to try King Charles

I, of England, for treason, they were made
judges of the famous court which condemned
him to death. That was in 1649.

Eleven years had gone by since that terri-
ble event. Cromwell was dead and Charles

II, king of England. All the enemies of the
old king had been pardoned except the judges
who had caused him to be beheaded. The
new king wanted revenge for the death of

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 85

his father, and demanded that these judges
be punished. Some of them were seized and
executed, but others ran away and hid.
Whalley and Goffe knew what was in store
for them, and sailed away to New England
before the new king was crowned. They
landed at Boston in July, 1660. They were
received with great honor and treated with
much kindness by Governor Endicott and
the people of Massachusetts, for they had
done brave deeds for the Puritan cause in
England. After a short stay in Boston, they
went to Cambridge, where they lived very
quietly, although they did not try to hide.
It was not then known in Boston that the
new king wanted to have them arrested and
punished.

There is a good story told of these two
regicides in connection with their stay in
Massachusetts — a story wrhich shows that
they were very skillful with their swords, and
knew how to humble a silly boaster as well.
A stranger came along one day and set up
a little platform in the street; mounting it,

86 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

he flourished a sword and dared anyone to
fight with him. No one seemed willing to
try it. Finally one of the regicides, dressed
as a rough farmer, wrapping a cheese in a
napkin for a shield, and taking a mop which
he had rubbed in a mudpuddle, mounted the
stage to meet the boasting swordsman. The
fellow, of course, felt very much insulted;
but the first angry thrust of his sword was
skillfully caught and held fast in the soft
cheese, while the dirty mop was wiped across
his red face. This was repeated several
times, amidst roars of laughter from the by-
standers. The man then lost his temper, and
picking up his heavy broadsword, threatened
to kill the judge. But he was warned off
with such a stern voice that he was frighten-
ed, and declared that this farmer fighter must
be either Whalley, Goffe or the Devil.

It was not long before news was brought
to Boston that the regicides were wanted in
England. Governor Endicott and the other
magistrates debated what they ought to do.
Some of them were afraid if they did not ar-

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 87

rest the judges and send them back to Eng-
land that the new king would be angry and
perhaps take away their charter. But while
they were talking about it Whalley and Goffe
settled the question for them by running
away.

Leaving Massachusetts, the two fugitive
judges went to Hartford. Although they
were well treated there, they decided to go
on to New Haven, where they had friends.
Besides, they would be nearer Manhattan
should they find it necessary to leave the
English colonies- altogether. They arrived
at New Haven in March, 1661. Mr. Daven-
port and their other friends at Quinnipiac
gave them a hearty welcome and generously
cared for them. They did not try to hide
for the first few weeks, but mingled with the
people and went to church. Saturdays they
watched the " train-band " practice and prob-
ably took part in the drill, showing the sol-
diers how to handle their guns and swords,
for they were old fighters themselves.

Unfortunately for the two hunted judges,

88 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

their feeling of security did not last very long.
They could not get out of reach of the long
arm of the revengeful king even in the wil-
derness of New England. One day in the
latter part of March a royal proclamation was
brought to New Haven. This proclamation
ordered a search to be made for the regi-
cides in all the New England colonies; if
found they must be arrested and sent to Eng-
land.

The people of New Haven had been ex-
pecting this royal command for some time
and had been wondering what they should
do when it came. They wanted to obey the
king, but they also wanted to save the good
and brave judges from a cruel death. Their
good minister, Mr. Davenport, settled the
question for them. He preached a sermon
from a verse in the Bible which says, " Hide
• the outcasts, bewray not him that wander-
eth." That was God's command and they
decided to obey God rather than their king.
So when the proclamation came they hid

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 89

the outcasts, and did not betray the wander-
ing judges.

Dressed as though for a long journey,
Whalley and Goffe appeared on the streets
of New Haven one morning and then went off
in the direction of Milford. People who did
not know their plans, supposed, of course,
that they were going to Manhattan. But
during the night they came back very quietly
and hid in Mr. Davenport's house. A month
later they went across the street and staid
with Mr. Jones, whose father was also a regi-
cide. There they remained until the king's
officers came in May, when they escaped to
the woods north of the town.

To understand how these royal officers
happened to come to New Haven we must
go back to Massachusetts for a moment. Af-
ter it became known that the regicides had
left Cambridge and gone to Connecticut, the
authorities in Massachusetts ordered a
search made for them in their colony. There
was no reason, of course, why they should
not make it a thorough one. Then, to show

90 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

the king how eager his colony was to obey
his commands and thus gain his favor, Gov-
ernor Endicott appointed two young men as
officers to visit the other New England col-
onies and see if they couldn't discover and
capture the " colonels " as the runaway
judges were called. These two young offi-
cers were named Thomas Kellond and Thom-
as Kirk. They had just arrived from Eng-
land and were friends of the king. Of
course, Governor Endicott could not give
them power to search houses in the other
colonies; he could merely ask the other gov-
ernors to grant the officers that right and
urge them to help in the search.

Kellond and Kirk started right off to Hart-
ford to look for Whalley and Goffe. They
found Governor Winthrop very polite and
quite willing to give them assistance. But
they soon found out that the men they want-
ed had gone to New Haven. So, without
further delay, the eager young officers hur-
ried on southward. They reached Guilford,
fifteen miles from New Haven, Saturday.

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 9!

There they stopped to see Mr. Leete who, at
that time, was governor of the New Haven
Colony.

Now if Governor Leete had been as eager
to give them aid as they were anxious to re-
ceive it, the two royal officers might have
reached New Haven that night and spoilt all
the rest of this story. But the Governor was
rather slow in his way of doing things and
on this particular Saturday he was very slow ;
at least Mr. Kellond and Mr. Kirk thought
so. He began to read their letters out loud
so that everybody in the room where they
were could hear him and learn who the stran-
gers were, and know their errand. They in-
terrupted his reading, warned him not to tell
such important news to others, and asked to
go into another room by themselves. They
said afterwards that an Indian runner was
immediately sent to New Haven by those
who had listened, to warn Whalley and Goffe.
Perhaps Mr. Leete didn't have his spectacles
on that day; at any rate it took him a very
long time to read those letters from the gov-

Q2 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ernor of Massachusetts. And when he had
finished them, he told the officers that he
hadn't seen the " colonels " in nine weeks
and he thought they must have left New Ha-
ven. But they replied that the regicides had
been seen there since that time, and asked for
horses to carry them farther on their er-
rand, Their request was finally granted, but
it was a very long time before the horses
were ready. To the impatient young offi-
cers, it seemed as though no one in Guilford
was in a hurry that afternoon !

While they were waiting for their horses,
someone outside told them that Whalley and
Goffe were hiding at Mr. Davenport's house
and that Mr. Leete knew it. So they went
right back to the Governor and demanded
military aid. This Mr. Leete refused to
grant them without the consent of the other
magistrates; but he offered to give them a
letter to Mr. Gilbert, who could help them.
Of course they were very glad to have such
a letter and waited for the Governor to write
it. It took Mr. Leete a long time to find

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 93

just the right kind of paper for such an im-
portant matter, and then he had to stop to
sharpen his old quill pen. By the time the
letter was written, it was too late in the day
for the officers to go on. And as it was Sat-
urday night, they had to remain in Guilford
over Sunday.

Although Kellond and Kirk left Guilford
bright and early Monday morning, a man
named John Meigs started earlier and reach-
ed New Haven in time to warn the people of
their coming. After the officers arrived, they
had to wait several hours for Mr. Leete to
come before a meeting of the magistrates
could be held. They then demanded permis-
sion to search the town, but the Governor
told them that he would not make them mag-
istrates. They warned him not to disobey
the king and get the New Haven colony into
trouble; but Mr. Leete still refused their re-
quest and went to talk it over with the mag-
istrates again. The whole day was spent in
this way and the king's officers could get no
aid or satisfaction.

Q4 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

The magistrates finally decided to call a
meeting of the General Court for the next
Friday to see what could be done. Kellond
and Kirk were not willing to wait, however,
and remained in the town only long enough
to offer great rewards to any Indian or white
man who would capture the regicides, and
then went on to Manhattan to continue their
search in that Dutch colony. They could
find no trace of either Whalley or Goffe,
however, and returned to Boston by boat,
disgusted with their poor luck, and greatly
.vexed at the people of New Haven.

Now let us see what had become of the
two regicides whom we left at Mr. Jones'
house. As soon as they learned from the
Indian runner who arrived from Guilford that
Saturday night, that royal officers were on
their way to arrest them, Whalley and Goffe
fled from their hiding place and took refuge
in an old mill north of the town. They re-
mained there over Sunday; on Monday while
the magistrates were debating what to do,
and the officers were impatiently waiting their

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 95

decision, Mr. Jones and two other friends
guided the fugitives to another hiding place
beyond West Rock, near Woodbridge. This
spot they called Hatchet Harbor, because
there they found a hatchet with which they
built a hut of green boughs. They staid
there two nights and a Mr. Sperry, who lived
not far away, gave them food. Then they
went to the top of Providence Hill, or what
is now West Rock, and hid in that strange
pile of huge rocks, which has long borne the
name of " Judges' Cave."7 They remained
at this cave for a month spending rainy nights
at Mr. Sperry's house. This friend kept them
supplied with food, sometimes carrying it to
them himself, sometimes sending his little
boy to leave it on a stump where they could
find it. This boy used to wonder what be-
came of the food but his father told him there
was somebody at work in the woods who
wanted it.

While the regicides were hiding in this
cave the General Court of the New Haven
Colony met and voted to have a thorough

p5 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

search made in every town in the colony.
Men were appointed to look through all
houses, barns, and sheds; even ships in the
harbor were searched. But no trace of the
judges could be found.

In those early days there were many wild
beasts in the forests about New Haven that
are rarely seen in the New England woods
now-a-days. One night as the regicides lay
in their bed of leaves a panther stuck his head
into the mouth of the cave and gave a terri-
ble roar. This so frightened them that soon
after they left the cave and went to some un-
known hiding place.

One Saturday, about a week after their
adventure with the panther, hearing that their
friends might suffer for their kindness in hid-
ing them, Whalley and Goffe went back to
New Haven and told Mr. Gilbert that they
would surrender rather than cause harm to
their friends. Mr. Gilbert wanted to talk
with the other magistrates about it first, and
as the next day was Sunday, he waited until
Monday before deciding what to do. Mean-

JUDGES CAVE.

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 97

time the judges were urged by their friends
to flee, so on Monday they again disappeared.
Several stories are told of narrow escapes
they had at that time. They were staying at
the house of a Mrs. Eyers when some men
started out to search for them. Mrs. Eyers
saw these men coming and told Whalley and
Goffe to run out the back door and then come
right in again. They did so and when the
officers came the woman told them that the
judges had been there, but had just gone out
of the back door. So the men hurried off
to the woods back of her house to find
them.

Then it is said that the two fugitives start-
ed in the direction of Mill River, or out what
is now called State street. Before they had
gone very far the Town Marshall caught up
with, and tried to arrest, them. They fought
so fiercely with their walking sticks, how-
ever, that the officer had to leave them and
go back for aid. While he was gone they
hid under what was called Neck Bridge near
Cedar Hill; and when the Marshall came

98 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

back with his aids they hurried right across
this bridge, not thinking that the men they
were after lay under their feet. When the
officers had got out of sight Whalley and
Goffe slipped into the woods again and went
back to their old hiding place in the cave at
West Rock.

It is also related that about this same time
they went over to Guilford and offered to
surrender to Governor Leete, but they were
hidden in his cellar and fed from his table.

The New Haven officers soon gave up the
search for the brave " colonels " and made no
further effort to arrest them. In August the
judges again left their cave and went to Mil-
ford, where they lived hidden with a Mr.
Tompkins for several years. For two years
they did not even go out of the house and
their presence was known to only two or
three persons in the town.

In 1664 a new danger arose. Four royal
Commissioners arrived at Boston to seek the
regicides and arrest them. So Whalley and
Goffe left Milford and returned to their old

HIDING THE REGICIDES. 9Q

home in the cave at West Rock. But an
Indian discovered the hiding place one day
and reported it in New Haven. Then it was
decided that they must find some new shelter
farther away from the colonies, and after a
long journey through the forests they found
a home with Reverend Mr. Russell at Had-
ley in the western part of Massachusetts.
They remained in safety there until they died,
some years later.

Some time after Whalley and Goffe had
gone to Hadley, a stranger giving the name
of James Davids, came to New Haven to
live. He was a very quiet but wise looking
man. Very few knew anything of his history
or that his real name was John Dixwell, one
of the Regicides. Where he had hidden dur-
ing the years since Charles II became king,
no one knows. He went to live in the house
of Mr. Ling on the corner of College and
Grove streets. Reverend Mr. Pierpont, who
was minister in New Haven at that time,
knew him better than anyone else, and, as
they were near neighbors, they often met at

IOO STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

the fence which divided their yards and had
long talks together. We can guess that Mr.
Dixwell told the good minister many stories
of the old days in England when a king lost
his head. Mr. Pierpont's wife used to won-
der why her husband talked so much with
that strange old man; but he merely replied
to her questioning, " He is a very knowing
and learned man."

In 1686 that tyrannical old Governor of
New England, Sir Edmund Andros, spent
a Sunday in New Haven and saw Mr. Dix-
well at church. He asked someone who that
noble looking man was and was told that he
was a merchant. " I know that he is not a
merchant," said the Governor. Someone
must have told Mr. Dixwell of it, for he was
not at church in the afternoon.

James Davids later married the widow of
Mr. Ling and remained in New Haven until
his death. He lies buried in the rear of the
old Center Church on the Green, but the
monument over his grave bears the name of
"John Dixwell."

CHAPTER VII.

How New Haven Came to Be in the
State of Connecticut.

After the English colonies in America had
won their independence from Great Britain,
they established the Federal Union and be-
came the thirteen original States. The col-
ony of Virginia became the State of Vir-
ginia; the colony of Connecticut became the
State of Connecticut. Why didn't the col-
ony of New Haven become the State of New
Haven? That is certainly an interesting
question and the answer to it is to be found
in the fact that more than a hundred years
before the Declaration of Independence was
made, New Haven ceased to be a separate
colony and became a part of the colony of
Connecticut. How did the old colony of
Davenport and Eaton come to lose its in-

IO2 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

dependence and be joined to the colony of
Winthrop and Hooker? The answer to this
question forms an interesting story.

Whenever companies of English people
were formed to move to America and found
new colonies, it was customary for them to
ask the King for a charter to take with them.
Now a charter was a written document which
granted the new colony certain rights and
privileges. Some charters granted more than
others, but usually they gave the colonists
the right to govern themselves and make
their own laws; only, the magistrates and
laws of the new colony must be acceptable
to the King and approved by him. Then the
King was always bound to protect such a col-
ony, and so a charter was considered a very
valuable thing to have and always carefully
guarded.

When Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport came
to New England with their company to found
a new colony, they brought no charter with
them. It is quite certain that they could
not have obtained one if they had asked it,

AN OLD CHARTER.

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. 103

for at that time, instead of giving them a
charter, the King more likely would have put
Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport in prison.
So the New Haven Colony was founded with-
out a charter stating what kind of govern-
ment it should have; and its founders had to
make a government of their own. For more
than twenty years the colony at Ouinnipiac
was practically an independent state and did
not even acknowledge the King.

But there soon came a time when the peo-
ple of New Haven thought that, after all,
it would be much better for them if the)'- had
a charter. The reason was that some of the
New Haven people had attempted to estab-
lish a trading station on the Delaware River
and had got into a quite serious quarrel
with the Dutch, and the need of protection
by mother England was keenly felt. Now it
so happened that just at that time the gov-
ernment of England was in the hands of the
Puritans and there was a possibility of their
obtaining a charter from Parliament. So in
November, 1644, the General Court asked'

IO4 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Mr. Gregson to go home to England and try
to get a charter for the New Haven Colony.
At the same time, to meet the necessary ex-
pense (it cost a good deal of money to pro-
cure a charter), they voted to raise the sum
of £200 of which New Haven was to pay
£110 in good salable beaver skins, and the
other towns of the colony the remaining
£90. More than a year passed before this
sum could be raised and the other necessary
preparations made. Then Mr. Gregson sail-
ed for England in that ill-fated ship which,
laden with so many precious lives and such a
valuable cargo, left New Haven in 1646 and
was lost at sea. This loss was such a serious
blow to the struggling little colony that,
for the time being, at least, any thought of
procuring a charter was out of the question ;
and really the people were so discouraged
that, for some time, few of them cared
whether they ever had a charter or not. Any
further attempt to secure one then, would
have been in vain anyway, for England was in
the midst of a civil war and Parliament was

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. 105

too busy fighting the King to think of grant-
ing New Haven a charter.

Now it happened that the people who set-
tled the colony of Connecticut in the region
about Hartford had no charter either. They
did not come direct from England, but moved
away from Boston in 1636 because they did
not quite like the government of the Massa-
chusetts Bay Colony. And, as it did not
seem to be a favorable time to procure a
charter, they established a government of
their own, as the New Haven people did a
little later.

Some years before the settlement of Hart-
ford, all the land along the Connecticut River
had been granted to a number of English
Lords, who, at one time, intended to move
to New England and settle, and even went
so far as to have a fort built at Saybrook.
Later, these Puritan Lords gave up their
plan of moving to America, and their right
to the land passed into the hands of a Mr.
Fenwick, who, in 1644, sold it to the colony
of Connecticut. It was not known, then,

IO6 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

whether this purchase included the territory
of Quinnipiac or not, for the patent, or deed,
of the property was in England. And when
Connecticut found out that she had really
bought the colony of New Haven from Mr.
Fenwick, she said nothing about it and made
no claim to it until fifteen years later. When,
in the year 1660, New Haven appointed a
committee to mark out the boundary line
between her colony and Connecticut, the
people of the latter colony heard of it and
sent a remonstrance to New Haven and de-
clared that all the territory of the New Ha-
ven Colony belonged to them. This was a
great surprise to Mr. Davenport and his
friends and, of course, they would not allow
any such claim to go unchallenged. So a
committee was appointed to consult with
Connecticut about her " pretended " right to
« New Haven.

Meantime the people of Connecticut had
decided to send their Governor, Mr. Win-
throp, to England to procure a charter for
their colony. The new King, Charles II, was

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT.

in power, and some of their old friends were
high in authority in the government. So it
seemed to be a favorable time to obtain one.
When Mr. Davenport heard of this he wrote
a letter to Governor Winthrop warning him
not to include New Haven in the new char-
ter. Mr. Winthrop replied that if the new
charter should include New Haven, that col-
ony could join Connecticut or not, as it pleas-
ed. He knew, however, that there were
some people in the New Haven Colony who
would be glad to join Connecticut, for they
were dissatisfied with their own government.
Even their governor, Mr. Leete, wrote Mr.
Winthrop saying that he hoped the charter
would include his colony, for he feared that
the King would punish them in some way be-
cause they had hidden the regicides. If they
were joined to Connecticut they would prob-
ably escape such punishment.

With the help of some of the English Lords
who had formerly owned the land, and by
presenting to the King a valuable ring which
had once belonged to his father, Charles I,

IO8 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Governor Winthrop succeeded in obtaining
a charter for the colony of Connecticut. It
was one of the best, if not the best, of the
charters granted to the New England col-
onies. It gave to the people of Connecticut
the right to govern themselves. They could
elect their own officers and make all their
own laws without regard to the King. That
explains why, in 1688, when the tyrannical
governor of New England, Sir Edmund An-
dros, tried to take it away, the men of Hart-
ford hid it in the oak tree, which thus gained
the name Charter Oak. Indeed, so excel-
lent was this colonial charter that it was used
by Connecticut as a state constitution for
nearly thirty years after the formation of the
Union.

At a meeting of the General Court of
Connecticut held in October, 1662, the new
charter was read. It was then found that it
really did include the territory occupied by
the New Haven Colony. A number of per-
sons from Guilford, Stamford and Southhold,
towns in the New Haven Colony, had heard

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. 109

of this and were present at this meeting. By
their own request they were at once made
citizens of Connecticut, although they still
owed allegiance to the New Haven Colony.
And this was done before Connecticut even
informed New Haven that the new charter
had arrived and included its territory. But
a committee was at once appointed to take a
copy of the charter to New Haven, inform
the people there of its contents, and invite
them to join with Connecticut.

When the people of New Haven learned
that Connecticut claimed their territory un-
der this new charter and had actually taken
some of their towns away from them without
permission, they were very indignant. A
meeting of the New Haven Court was held
to decide what should be done about it. All
looked to Mr. Davenport for advice. He did
not hesitate to give it, for he bitterly opposed
the union with Connecticut, and with good
reason. He had labored long and suffered
much to establish in the New World a state
whose government should be in the hands of

HO STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

'church members only. If they should unite
with Connecticut all his work would be in
vain, and his dearest hopes disappointed, for
in the Connecticut colony all free-holders
could vote whether church members or not.
At this meeting of the New Haven Court
Mr. Davenport told the people the reasons
why he thought their colony was not includ-
ed under the Connecticut charter. In the
first place the new charter did not contain
the name of New Haven, and that colony
had always been treated as a separate col-
ony by not only the other New England col-
onies, including Connecticut, but by the King
himself. If the King had intended to in-
clude New Haven he would have said so.
If Connecticut had intended to include New
Haven, they would have been consulted be-
fore Mr. Winthrop was sent to England.
The reply which was sent to Connecticut
contained some of these reasons and declared
that an appeal would be made to the King to
learn the truth of the matter. It also de-
manded that Connecticut restore the towns

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. Ill

that she had so wrongfully taken away from
New Haven and wait until an answer could
be had from the King. Connecticut made
no reply to this letter, nor did she restore to
New Haven Colony the towns that had been
received under the new charter.

When Mr. Winthrop, who was in England
still, heard that New Haven had sent word
to friends there asking them to learn from
the King if he had really intended to include
their colony under the Connecticut charter,
he persuaded them to wait until he could re-
turn to New England and promised to set-
tle the dispute satisfactorily. At the same
time he wrote a letter to Connecticut urging
that no injury be done New Haven, and, if
any had been done, to repair it. This letter
was addressed to the officers of the Connec-
ticut colony but was first sent to Governor
Leete, of the New Haven Colony, that he
might read it. Governor Leete thought this
letter was a copy of one sent to Connecticut
and kept it. So Connecticut never received
it, and not only continued to hold the towns

112 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

belonging to the New Haven Colony but ap-
pointed officers for them as well.

By the time Mr. Winthrop returned to
Connecticut the quarrel between the two col-
onies was very bitter. Connecticut in-
sisted that New Haven belonged to her and
tried to persuade Mr. Davenport and his
friends to unite peaceably. New Haven
bluntly refused to discuss the subject until
her towns were restored to her, and issued a
proclamation calling upon all persons who
had joined Connecticut to pay their taxes to
the New Haven Colony. When this procla-
mation was set up at Stamford, the Connec-
ticut constable there tore it down. And
when it was published in Guilford two men
went to Hartford and asked to be protected
from New Haven. Several Connecticut offi-
cers returned to Guilford with them, and, ar-
riving late at night, made so much noise fir-
ing off their guns, that Governor Leete was
frightened and sent to Branford and New
Haven for help. A number of soldiers hur-
ried to Guilford to see what the matter was.

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. 113

But with all the noise and excitement no one
was hurt. The Connecticut officers merely
asked the Governor not to collect taxes from
Connecticut citizens until* they could come
to some agreement about the charter.

Another meeting of the New Haven Gen-
eral Court was then called. It was again
decided not to treat with Connecticut until
the towns were restored. But a committee
was appointed to write out and send to Con-
necticut a statement of their grievances.
This was called " New Haven's Case Stated."
In the meantime Connecticut chose another
committee to visit New Haven and try to
come to some agreement. They offered to
restore to New Haven the towns they had
taken away if New Haven would agree to
join Connecticut. To this New Haven
would not agree. Governor Winthrop was
unable to settle the dispute for on his re-
turn from England he gave up the idea of
allowing New Haven to join Connecticut or
not, as she chose, and decided that New Ha-
ven must come under the new charter, any-

H4 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

way. Although more persons in the New
Haven towns were coming to favor union
with Connecticut, Mr. Davenport and his
party still controlled the colony and there
seemed no prospect of an agreement. More
than two years had passed since the charter
came and Connecticut was about to take
some definite action to compel New Haven
to submit when something very unexpected
happened and put a sudden end to the dis-
agreeable quarrel.

In March, 1664, King Charles II made his
brother, the Duke of York, a present of
some territory in America. This gift in-
cluded northern New England, Long Island,
and all the land from the Connecticut River
to Delaware Bay. Thus not only was the
New Haven Colony given to the Duke but
a part of Connecticut as well. The territory
of the Dutch was also included and a fleet
sent to conquer it for the English. With this
fleet came four Commissioners with power
to settle disputes and fix boundaries between
the colonies.

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT.

Here was a new and alarming danger for
both New Haven and Connecticut. The peo-
ple in both colonies feared for their liberties,
for the Duke of York was a Royalist and no
friend to the Puritans. Many of the New
Haven people who had thus far opposed the
union with Connecticut, now favored it, for
they believed that if the two colonies were
united there would be more chance of their
maintaining the new charter and their rights.
The town of Milford soon voted to join Con-
necticut and this still more weakened New
Haven. Guilford and Branford were the
only towns left to her; and many of the peo-
ple in those towns were beginning to favor
union. Meantime the colony of Manhattan
had been conquered from the Dutch, and its
name changed to New York. Then the Roy-
al Commissioners decided to give Long Is-
land to New York, and fixed the boundary be-
tween New York and Connecticut where it
is to-day. This act placed New Haven in
the Connecticut colony and made it neces-
sary for her to submit. A meeting of the

Il6 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN".

General Court was therefore held and the
New Haven Colony voted to submit to
Connecticut as soon as the decision of the
Commissioners was officially made known.
At the same time the people of New Haven
declared that their action must not be taken
as justifying the wrong which Connecticut
had done them, nor as a surrender of their
former right and claim. Thus New Haven
lost her independence and became a part of
Connecticut.

Most of the people soon forgot the bitter
quarrel and were contented with their new
government. But some were never recon-
ciled. The people of Branford were so dis-
satisfied that they soon left their town, and,
under the leadership of Mr. Pierson, their
minister, moved to New Jersey and founded
the city of Newark. But there was no one
in old New Haven who felt so keen a disap-
pointment over the union with Connecticut
as Mr. Davenport. His great ambition and
cherished hopes were destroyed forever. He
was broken-hearted and would not be com-

UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. 117

forted. In the year 1668 he moved to Bos-
ton where he became the minister of the old
First Church. Two years later his disap-
pointed life was ended. But the city he left
in sorrow, and which owes so much to him,
has never forgotten, nor ceased to revere, his
name. And the blessings which resulted
from the union he tried so hard to prevent,
have long since buried in oblivion the wrong
which helped to bring it about.

CHAPTER VIII.

How New Haven Came to Be the Home
of Yale College.

When the Puritan founders of New Haven
landed at Quinnipiac in 1638 they intended
to make their settlement not only a busy
trading center, but a leading college town as
well. Mr. Davenport, who was a graduate
of Oxford College, England, especially de-
sired this and looked forward with eagerness
to the time when a college could be set up
at New Haven. He believed that schools
and colleges were necessary in a state
" whose design is religion," for intelligent
and educated men alone could make such a
state strong and safe. Mr. Eaton and the
other leaders in the new settlement agreed
with him; and, that they might set up a

SELECTION OF YALE'S HOME. 119

school as soon as possible, they took a school
teacher with them to Quinnipiac.

The name of this school teacher was Eze-
kiel Cheever. He came from London and
was only twenty-three years old. As soon
as his house was built and he had a place to
keep a school he began to teach. The old
town record states what agreement was made
with him and what the purpose of the school
was to be :

" For the better training up of youth in
this town, that through God's blessing they
may be fitted for public service hereafter,
either in church or commonweal, it is order-
ed that a free school be* set up, and the
magistrates with the teaching elders are en-
treated to consider what rules and orders are
meet to be observed, and what allowance
may be convenient for the schoolmaster's
care and pains, which shall be paid out of the
town's stock. According to which order 20
pounds a year was paid to Mr. Ezekiel Cheev-
er, the present schoolmaster, for two or three
years at first; but that not proving a com-

I2O STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

petent maintenance, in August, 1644, it was
enlarged to 30 pounds a year and so con-
tinueth." By a free school they meant a
school to which all were free to send their
children, but they were to pay something for
it.

Only boys were sent to school in those
days for they alone were to become citizens
and officers in church or state. They were
taught Latin and English, principally, for
children learned to read and write at home
or from private teachers. Little arithmetic
and no geography or history were taught.
It was expected that children would learn
such things from experience and by listen-
ing to the stories of strangers, travellers or
sailors. The old record of 1644 saYs that
" Mr. Pearc desired the plantation to take
notice thatt if any will send their children
to him, he will instruckt them in writing or
arethmatick."

Mr. Cheever was an excellent teacher for
those days. When his scholars did not study
as hard as he wished, he was very apt to use

SELECTION OF YALE S HOME. 121

a rod on their backs. It is said that he
wore a long white beard and when he stroked
it. clear to the end, it was a sign for naughty
boys to look out. Although they some-
times forgot the Latin they always remem-
bered the rod. Mr. Cheever wrote a book
for the study of Latin which was used as
a school book in New England for a great
many years. He taught in New Haven for
more than ten. years and then moved to Bos-
ton. He lived to be ninety-four years old
and was a schoolmaster for seventy years.

After Mr. Cheever's departure it became
necessary to find another teacher. John
Hanford was at length secured. The town
voted " that his work should be to perfect
male children in the English after they can
read in their Testament or Bible, and to
learn them to write, and to bring them on
to Latin as they are capable, and desire to
proceed therein." The town agreed to pay
for his room and board, and give him 20
pounds besides. Once a year, in harvest
time, he could visit his friends. Mr, Han-

122 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ford did not stay very long, however. His
health was poor and he complained because
he had to teach spelling. The school at
New Haven went on in this unsatisfactory
way for several years. Teachers did not re-
main very long and few scholars cared to
study Latin.

Mr. Davenport did not give up hope that
" a small college should be settled in New
Haven." Some land was set apart for a col-
lege but the years went by and no college
was started. The little town was too poor
to support one. Although they could not
have one of their own, the people of New
Haven were willing to give something to the
college in the Masssachusetts Bay Colony.
Every person " whose hart was willing " gave
a peck of corn which was sent to Boston for
the support of poor scholars at Harvard
College. This yearly gift was known as the
" college corn."

In 1657 there seemed a possibility that
Mr. Davenport's hopes would be fulfilled.
Mr. Edward Hopkins, who once belonged to

SELECTION OF YALE'S HOME. 123

the New Haven company, out settled in
Hartford and became Governor of the Con-
necticut colony, died in England. In his will
hs left fourteen hundred pounds and a
" negar " [nigger] for the " breading up of
hopeful youths in New England both at
Grammar school and college for the public
service of the country." Mr. Davenport
was named as one of the trustees who were
to have charge of this money. Part of the
gift was to go to Hadley, Massachusetts,
part to Harvard College, and part to New
Haven. Before the money could be obtain-
ed, however, Hartford secured a share of it.
What became of the " negar " isn't known.

In 1660 the Hopkins Grammar School
was started in New Haven. Mr. Jeremiah
Peck became the first teacher. He taught
Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Oratory. His
salary consisted of " 30 bushels of wheat, I
barrel of pork, and 2 barrels of beef, 40 bush-
els of Indian corn, 30 bushels of pease, I
firkin of butter, 100 Ibs. of flax, 30 bushels of
oats." School began at six or seven o'clock in

124 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

the morning and there were only twelve days
of vacation during the year. The school was
kept in the old school-house on the mar-
ket-place and continued to be held there un-
til 1815. Seats were provided in the church
for the " schollers " and a man was appointed
to keep order. This new grammar school
which Mr. Davenport hoped to see a col-
lege some day, was not very successful at
first. There were so few scholars that it
hardly paid to keep it open. In 1668 Mr.
Davenport told the town that unless they
sent more scholars to the school he would
have the money given by Mr. Hopkins sent
where it would do more good, for the condi-
tion of the school was such that the will of
Mr. Hopkins was not being carried out.
Several then promised to send their sons to
study Latin and that satisfied Mr. Daven-
port. When he left New Haven, later, he
gave the money to the care of others for the
benefit of the school. From that day to this
the Hopkins Grammar School has been one

SELECTION OF YALE'S HOME. 125

of the most famous college preparatory
schools in the country.8

Mr. Davenport did not live to " see a col-
lege set up at New Haven." But the good
men who followed him did not forget his
ambition nor let his efforts toward that cher-
ished object be in vain. Not many years
after his death the ministers in and about
New Haven began to think seriously of the
plan to start a college. The Grammar school
students were compelled to go to Harvard
if they wished a college education. Many
of them did go; but it was thought to be a
hardship, because it was so far away from
home. Mr. Pierpont, the minister at New
Haven, was interested in a college, and had
energy enough to take the lead in the mat-
ter. In the year 1700 ten ministers were
selected to act as trustees of the proposed
college. They held a meeting at the home
of Reverend Mr. Russell in Branford and
there founded what later came to be called
Yale College. Each minister gave some
books saying, " I give these books for found-

126 STORIES OF OLD NEW MAVEX.

ing a college in Connecticut." About forty
books were collected in this way.

The colonial Assembly which met at New
Haven in 1701 gave these trustees a charter
for the new college. This charter did not
call it a college, however. It gave it the
name " collegiate school." It was said that
it was given " so low a name " that it " might
the better stand in wind and weather." That
meant that the King might interfere with the
enterprise if he learned that a colonial assem-
bly had given a charter to a college. That
was a right which belonged to him.

In November, 1701, the trustees met at
Saybrook and decided to locate the college
there. It was much easier to travel by wa-
ter than by land in New England in those
early days, and Saybrook could be reached
from both Hartford and New Haven in that
way. Then the first president (or Rector,
as he was called in those days) was Rev-
erend Andrew Pierson, the minister at Kil-
lingworth, (now Clinton) Connecticut, and
that was near Saybrook. Jacob Hemingway

SELECTION OF YALE'S HOME. I2/

of Xe\v Haven was the first student and he
was taught by Mr. Pierson at Killingworth.
Soon other students attended the college and
tutors were appointed to assist in teaching.
The commencements were held at Saybrook
each year.

In 1707 Mr. Pierson died and Reverend
Samuel Andrew of Milford became Rector.
The senior class went to Milford to study
under his direction while the rest of the stu-
dents remained at Saybrook in charge of the
tutors. The little college struggled along in
that way for several years. Not many stu-
dents entered and few were graduated, for
England and France were at war and the
New England colonies were sending men
and spending money to defend themselves
from the Canadians. Besides, the students
did not like to stay in Saybrook very well,
as there were few people in the town and
their life was very dull. Then, too, they
complained of the tutors because they were
poor teachers. These complaints became so
numerous that the trustees finally voted to

128 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

allow the students to study in other places.
So in 1716 some went to Guilford and others
to Wethersfield.

Of course the college could not go on very
long, split up in that way, and its friends
saw that it must have a suitable home some-
where if it was to succeed. Several towns
wanted it, but New Haven and Hartford
were especially anxious to secure it. Just
as soon as some of the students went to
Wethersfield, the people of Hartford asked
the Colonial Assembly to move the college
to their town. They declared Hartford was
the best place for it, because it was nearer
the center of the colony and most of the
students were already near there. Unfor-
tunately for Hartford most of the trustees of
the college lived near New Haven and were
determined to locate the school there. In
1716 they voted to do this, and ordered the
students to meet at New Haven the next
year. The Wethersfield students refused to
go and much excitement and bad feeling re-
sulted. Meantime the trustees began the

SELECTION OF YALE'S HOME. 129

erection of a college building at New Haven
and held the first commencement there in
1717.

Hartford would not accept the decision of
the trustees and again appealed to the As-
sembly. The lower house of the Assembly
then voted to remove the college to Middle-
town, but the Senate, under the lead of Gov-
ernor Saltonstall, would not agree to it.
After a long debate the Assembly decided
that the trustees had the right to locate the
college where they pleased and that settled
the question. To comfort Hartford the As-
sembly voted to build a State House there.

The reasons which the trustees gave for
choosing New Haven as the home of the col-
lege were these : The air and soil were
agreeable; it would be cheaper for the stu-
dents to live there; and more money was
given to the college by the people of New
Haven. The town gave eight acres of land
and various persons gave forty acres more.
These reasons did not satisfy either the stu-
dents at Wethersfield or the people of Say-

130 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

brook. When an attempt was made to re-
move the library from the latter town there
was trouble. The Sheriff was finally sent
with some officers and the books removed to
New Haven by force. The wheels of the
carts on which they were loaded were taken
off, bridges were broken down on the road,
and many of the books were torn or lost.

The students at Wethersfield who refused
to go to New Haven, set up a rival college
and held a commencement of their own.
Reverend Elisha Williams, who sought to
have the college located at Hartford, gave
the degrees. When the Assembly ordered
these students to go to New Haven, how-
ever, they unwillingly obeyed. They made
a great deal of trouble for the college and
were called a " very vicious and turbulent
set of fellows." In 1726 the bad feeling was
put at an end by the election of Mr. Wil- '
liams as Rector. He was a very popular
man and the college prospered under his
direction.

For more than fifteen years this college

SELECTION OF YALE S HOME. 13!

which had wandered about from pillar to
post and at times had seemed more dead
than alive, had no other name than that of
" collegiate school " given by the charter.
It was now old enough to have a better name
and obtained one. This is how it happened :
Mr. Jeremiah Dummer, who was the agent
of the Connecticut colony in England, was
much interested in the college and told his
friends about it, asking them to give books
for the library. More than eight hundred
volumes were collected in this way. Among
those who became interested through Mr.
Dummer's efforts, was Elihu Yale, the son
of David Yale who had landed at Quinnipiac
with Theophilus Eaton in 1638. Soon after
the settlement of the town Mr. Yale moved
to Boston where probably Elihu was born.
Later the family went back to England.
When he became a young man Elihu was
sent to the East Indies where in time he
became the Governor of Madras. When he
returned to England he was a very rich man.
In his boyhood he had often heard his father
tell the story of the voyage to New England

132 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

and the landing at Quinnipiac and now he
thought it would be a very nice thing for him
to make the college there a present. So in
1717 he sent some books, a fine picture of the
King of England and a quantity of East In-
dia goods which were to be sold in Boston
and the money given to the college. The
sum received for these goods amounted to
more than five hundred and sixty pounds and
was a very welcome gift, for it enabled the
trustees to finish the college building. This
building was three stories high and painted
blue. At the Commencement of 1718 it was
dedicated. There was great rejoicing, and,
in honor of Mr. Yale, it was named Yale Col-
lege. Far greater sums have often been giv-
en to the college since then but none has
been more timely or welcome than the gift
of Elihu Yale. It gave new life and hope to
all who had labored so patiently for its suc-
cess, and started it on that career which has
made the name of Yale honored around the
world. Thus was fulfilled the earnest wish
of John Davenport that a college might be
set up at New Haven.8

CHAPTER IX.

How the Market-Place Became the Green
and the Many Changes It Has Seen.

No spot in old New Haven has been so
closely connected with its life and history as
the beautiful and widely famed Green. For
more than two hundred and fifty years it has
been the silent witness of events both great
and small and scenes both joyous and sad.
Ever since the founders of the town set it
apart for the common use of all the people,
it has been the heart of New Haven, contin-
ually throbbing with the life-blood of religion
and patriotism. From the wildness of a
swampy forest, with its tangled underbrush
occasionally trodden by a wandering Indian,
it has become the smooth and shaded park,
daily crossed by busy thousands whose pious
ancestors long ago displaced the stealthy

134

STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

redmen. Hiding in its grassy bosom the
bones of many hundreds whose living feet
trod its surface in the days gone by, it holds
in its shaded lap the three old churches whose
sentinel towers have long watched over the
good of the people and which still remain the
faith and hope of the future.

The story of how the founders of New Ha-
ven laid out their town four-square, divided
it into quarters, and then reserved the central
quarter for a market-place, has already been
told. Mr. Eaton and his associates were very
ambitious to build up a successful trading
town. It was expected that whenever a
ship anchored in the harbor its cargo would
be taken to the market-place and offered for
sale ; or, if any one in the town had anything
to sell, he would take it there. Auctions,
sheriff's sales and fairs were to be held there.
It was to be the business center of the town.
Strangely enough it was never much used for
such purposes. The longed-for trading ves-
sels with rich cargoes failed to enter the har-
bor. The fairs which were held twice a vear

THE GREEN AND ITS CHANGES.

00

for a few years did not prove successful. The
people themselves had little to sell and that
little was lost at Delaware and in the " Great
Shippe " of 1646. Most of the settlers had
their own gardens and raised their own vege-
tables, so there was little need of a market-
place on that account.

The other uses for which this plot of
ground was set apart have been more valuable
and popular. The founders built their first
church there, and as a religious center it has
ever since been prominent. For more than
one hundred and fifty years it contained the
only burial place in the town. For many years
criminals were punished in the market-place.
Puritan children went to school there in the
early days. For nearly two hundred years
it served as a pasture for cattle. Its use for
such purposes has long been given up. To-
day it is a public park and a place for public
gatherings, religious, political and military.

This historic open space in the center of
New Haven long known as the Green, con-
tains a little over sixteen acres of ground.

STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

It is one-sixth of a mile long but not quite
square, for the young Puritan surveyor, John
Brockett, found it a difficult task to mark
out the nine quarters in the woods and un-
derbrush. It is remarkable that he succeed-
ed as well as he did. Of course it was a
very different looking place in 1638 from
what it is now. It was an uneven wooded
slope full of tangled bushes and briers. On
its lower side, near the corner of Church and
Chapel streets, it contained a swamp. From
this swamp a small brook ran south and emp-
tied into the East Creek near Wooster street.
Bordering it, and. overhanging its shallow
pools, were alder bushes and willows from
which the Indians made their arrows. There
the noise of lazy turtles and the croaking of
big mouthed frogs could be heard on early
spring evenings. Now, stranger noises fill
the place. Swift moving trolleys sound their
clanging gongs and deep toned bells ring out
the passing hours.

As soon as possible the settlers began the
work of clearing up the market-place. The

THE GREEN AND ITS CHANGES. 137

trees were cut down and the timber used for
building1 and fire-wood. One of the first
things set up in the clearing was a whipping-
post. Then some stocks were built and
placed there. So, one of the earliest uses of
the market-place was for punishment. In
1639, the year after their landing, the foun-
ders built their first church. This was a rude
box-like building fifty feet square. It stood
in the center of the market-place, thus signi-
fying that religion was to be the central pur-
pose in all their undertakings. On the roof
of this building was a small tower where the
town drummer " drummed " the people to
meeting. As the wood of which this church
was built was unseasoned, the roof soon be-
gan to leak and the sides bulged out. The
carpenters had to repair it and brace up the
walls. But in this rickety old barn-like
church the Puritan founders of New Haven
worshipped God for more than thirty years,
summer and winter.

For the use of the soldiers who kept watch
at night, a small watch-house was built on

138 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

the upper side of the market-place. This
served as a prison, also, until a separate build-
ing was erected for that purpose near by.
Soon after that a school-house was built.
This stood where the United Church is now.
Twenty-five years after the settlement of the
town the surface of this plot was still very
rough and covered with stumps and stones.
Grass had commenced to grow in some
places, but people were in the habit of dig-
ging it up and planting it in their own yards.
Leading up to the church were the narrow
paths which had been worn by the Puritan
church-goers and back of it were the graves
of those who had died since the founding of
the town.

In 1670 the old leaky-roofed meeting-
house was sold and a new one containing a
belfry, was built. A few years later a vessel
came into the harbor having a bell on board.
This bell was taken ashore and, after a short
trial, was purchased by the town. It was
hung in the new church belfry and was rung
for meetings and at nine o'clock every night.

THE GREEN AND ITS CHANGES. 139

It took the place of the drum which had been
used for such purposes since 1638. In 1699
this second meeting-house was found to be
too small and an addition was made on one
side of it and the windows enlarged. At the
same time an effort was made to improve the
looks of the market-place. They tried to
uproot the barberry bushes, " sorrill," and
" poysonous stinking weeds that infest our
Market-place."

In 1719 a county house and a State House
were erected on the market-place, for New
Haven had become one of the capitals of the
colony of Connecticut. Four years later a
new school-house was built. At that time
children going to school could see pigs and
cows and horses roaming over the rough
ground and cattle continued to be pastured
there until 1827. Geese could frequently be
seen wandering about the marshy places and
were continually a cause of complaint. Deep
ruts made by heavy carts ran in various di-
rections, for people drove across the square
at will.

I4O STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

As time went on the appearance of the
market-place improved. About 1750 people
began to call it the Green. Better buildings
took the place of the old and dilapidated
structures. In 1756 a brick meeting house
was erected. This stood just in front of the
present Center Church. At the same time
a board fence was built around the graveyard
and painted red. In 1760 some elm and but-
tonwood trees were set out. One of the lat-
ter is still standing near the corner of Elm
and College streets. In 1759 a new court
house was built. It stood near the present
Trinity Church. Ten years later another
meeting house was built where the United
Church is now. This made the second
church building on the Green. It was built
of wood and painted white.

In 1774 a liberty pole was set up. Thus
the Green became the center of patriotic in-
terest during the long and trying years of the
Revolution. There Benedict Arnold drew
up his little company and demanded the keys
of the powder house, when the news of the

THE GREEN AND ITS CHANGES. 14!

battle of Lexington came. There General
Washington reviewed the patriotic company
of Yale students on his way to take com-
mand of the Continental Army at Cambridge.
There the soldiers drilled before marching off
to war. There, too, the British soldiers rest-
ed after their long march from West Haven
on that hot July day in 1779. Surely those
were exciting days for the old Green!

After the Revolutionary War was over and
independence had been won, New Haven be-
came a city. That was in 1784. Roger
Sherman, who signed the Declaration of In-
dependence, was the first mayor. The
streets were given names and people began
to take more pride in the appearance of the
Green.10 The old county house and jail were
taken down and the ground where they stood
leveled off. Then under the leadership of
Mr. James Hillhouse,11 one of the most public
spirited citizens the city ever had, was be-
gun those great improvements which have
made New Haven famous as the " City of
Elms " the world over.12

142 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Mr. Hillhouse loved the beauty and grace-
fulness of elm trees and knew the comfort of
their shade. On his farm in Meriden were
a great many young elm trees. Digging
them up and bringing them to New Haven
he planted them about the Green and along
the streets of the city. He performed much
of the labor himself. Willing boys held the
trees while he shoveled in the dirt. Rever-
end David Austin worked with Mr. Hill-
house to adorn the city with trees. He plant-
ed the inner rows of elms on the lower side
of the Green. The most noted of the elms
about the Green is the one which stands on
the corner of Church and Chapel streets.
A queer fellow named Jerry Allen brought it
on his back from Hamden and sold it to
Mr. Thaddeus Beecher for a pint of rum and
a few trinkets. It is known as the Franklin
Elm, for it was set out on the day that Ben-
jamin Franklin died, April 17, 1790. A
mere sapling when planted, it has grown to
be a large and handsome tree, while its roots
fill the bed of the little stream which once

THE GREEN AND ITS CHANGES. 143

flowed out of that corner of the Green.
Long may it stand to shade the busiest cor-
ner of the old market-place!13

After 1790 the Green saw many changes.
Geese had never ceased to be a nuisance and
a law was passed to keep them away. " No
goose or gander shall be allowed to go at
large within the limits of New Haven town
unless such goose or gander be well yoked
with yoke twelve inches long under penalty
of impounding (taking and shutting up) such
goose or gander." The owner, to free his
goose, had to pay a fine of five cents. This,
it was hoped, would keep them off the Green.
In 1798 the market-house which had stood
for some years near the southeast corner,
was taken down. Although the town was
too poor to spend money for improvements
during the early years of the nineteenth cen-
tury, Mr. Hillhouse, Mr. Austin and Mr.
Isaac Beers obtained permission to level and
fence in the Green at their own expense.
Protected by the wooden fence which was
then built, the grass grew plentifully and was

144 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

cut and sold each year. The money thus ob-
tained was used to pay for the improve-
ments. In 1846 the present iron fence took
the place of the wooden one which was sold
to the town of Milford and placed around the
Milford green.

The three churches now standing on the
Green were all built in the year 1814. Mr.
Ithiel Towne was the architect of Trinity and
Center churches. The latter is modelled af-
ter an old church in London. At the time
these churches were being erected the United
States was at war with Great Britain. There
is an interesting story that a vessel loaded
with lumber for Trinity Church was captured
by a British war-ship while on its voyage to
New Haven. When the British captain
learned what use was to be made of the lum-
ber he permitted the vessel to continue on her
voyage unmolested. In 1821 a Methodist
church was erected on the Green near the
corner of Elm and College streets. When it
was nearly completed a severe wind storm
blew the roof off and wrecked the building.

THE GREEN AND ITS CHANGES. 145

It was immediately rebuilt and stood until
1848.

By the time New Haven had grown large
enough to be a city the old graveyard had
become very crowded. Until 1796 it was the
only burial place in the town. In 1794 New
Haven was visited by an epidemic of yellow
fever and scores of persons died. All were
buried silently and at night on the Green.
This led people to see the need of another
place for a burial ground. Mr. Hillhouse
was the first to move in the matter. A plot
of ground beyond Grove street was purchas-
ed and arranged for a burial ground.14
Since then the graveyard on the Green has
almost entirely disappeared. The present
Center Church was erected over a portion of
it and the monuments of noted men and wom-
en of old New Haven may still be seen in the
crypt beneath this meeting house.15 Several
old gravestones still remain near the Dixwell
monument back of the church. The rest
were removed to the Grove Street Cemetery
many years ago. Thus while all traces of the

146 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

graves have been removed from the surface
of the Green, hidden under its turf are the
bones of over five thousand men, women, and
children.

In 1829 a marble State House was built
on the upper Green. It was built in the style
of a Greek temple. For many years it was
the center of activity for old and young.
The steep bank at one end made a favorite
coasting place in winter and many who are
still young can remember bumping down the
icy marble steps in the anxious effort to make
their sleds go a little farther toward Temple
street, while their sisters and other boys'
sisters looked on with mingled admiration
and terror. The steps at the other end of the
building served as a favorite lounging place
and were often used as a platform by orators.
Much to the sorrow of many of the citizens
of the town, the handsome old ruin was taken
down in 1889. The tender little " Consti-
tutional Oak " planted on Arbor Day, 1902,
alone marks the site of the old State House.

Among the pleasant associations connect-

THE GREEX AND ITS CHANGES. 147

ed with the historic Green are the visits of
famous men to New Haven. The old Green
has been honored by the presence of many
presidents, generals, governors and states-
men. In 1798 George Washington again
visited New Haven as the President of the
United States, and attended church on the
Green. In 1817 President James Monroe
was there. President Andrew Jackson spent
Sunday there in 1833 and was received with
great honor at the State House. In 1824
General Lafayette reviewed the militia on the
Green. Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian pa-
triot, was honored there. James Madison,
John Quincy Adams, Martin VanBuren,
James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Ulyses S.
Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Theodore
Roosevelt, all Presidents of the United
States, have walked under the shade of its
beautiful elms.

Truly the old market-place is full of his-
toric memories and fine traditions. Those
ancient elms could tell wonderful stories of
the past. The roar of cannon over its sur-

148 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

face, the rattle of musketry among its trees,
and the shouts of multitudes call to mind its
service for independence and freedom. The
songs of Christian children and the silence
and sadness of throngs gathered to honor and
mourn the nation's dead testify to the good
influences which have come from it. The
old Green stands for great deeds and great
principles. It stands for God and truth and
right. It stands for justice and law and or-
der. Long and wide may its influence
spread !

How New Haven Celebrated the Fourth
of July in the Year 1779.

New Haven has good reason to remember
the Revolutionary War. One of her wisest
and most honored citizens, Roger Sherman,
signed the Declaration of Independence.
One of her bravest soldiers, David Wooster,1*
gave his life in defence of his native state.
One of the manliest students in her famous
college, Nathan Hale, regretted that he had
but one life to give for his country. And
that ambitious young patriot, who later,
turned traitor to his country, Benedict Ar-
nold,17 began the honorable part of his mili-
tary career in New Haven. But there is still
another reason why New Haven remembers
the days that tried men's souls. It was the
way she celebrated the Fourth of July, 1779.

150 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEX.

New Haven had shown a strong spirit of
patriotism from the very beginning of the
war. When the news of the battle of Lex-
ington came in April, 1776, Benedict Arnold,
who lived in New Haven then, and was Cap-
tain of the Governor's Foot Guards, called
out his company and proposed to march at
once to Cambridge. Forty of the men
agreed to go, and Arnold asked the town
officers to give them powder. Upon their
refusal he drew up his company before them
and demanded the keys of the powder-house,
threatening to break open the doors and help
himself if they refused again. The keys were
delivered at once. Upon reaching Cam-
bridge the little company was found to be the
best armed and the best uniformed of all the
American troops there.

Soon after Arnold's company marched
away, General Washington stopped at New
Haven on his way to Cambridge. With
him were General Lee and General Mifflin.
They spent the night at Mr. Beers' tavern
which stood where the New Haven House is

PATRIOTISM IN 1779- 15!

now. These distinguished officers were es-
corted out of town the next morning by a
company of Yale students who had drilled
before the Commander-in-Chief and had
been praised by him.

Before many months passed New Haven
set up a beacon on the east side of the har-
bor on what is now Beacon Hill in Fort
Wooster Park. This was a signal fire and
whenever it was necessary to give an alarm
of danger it was lighted and could be seen
by the people in all the surrounding country.
At such times all who could, were expected
to arm themselves and stand ready to defend
the town. Three years went by while New
Haven did her share in supplying men, food
and clothing for the Continental Army. To
help provide ammunition a powder mill was
built at Westville. Meantime there was con-
stant fear of an attack on the town for every-
one realized that it would be an easy matter
for the enemy to sail through the Sound and
destroy towns along the shore. How
real this danger was at length became evi-

152 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

dent, for, in 1779, General Try on, the Brit-
ish governor of New York, began to make
raids along the Connecticut coast, robbing
and burning the towns.

The Fourth of July fell on Sunday in the
year 1779, and, in those days, as now, under
such circumstances, the anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence was celebrated
on Monday, the fifth. On this particular
Sunday evening in July, 1779, the leading
young patriots -of New Haven were making
preparations to hold their celebration on the
following day. There was to be a parade
and the little military company was to drill
on the Green. Cannon were to be fired and
the church bells were to be rung. But
while these plans were being made and the
boys and girls of the town were eagerly look-
ing forward to the fun on the morrow, a fleet
of nearly fifty British war vesels with several
thousand soldiers aboard was sailing through
the Sound bound for New Haven; and the
Fourth of July was celebrated in a very dif-
ferent manner from what was planned or ex-

PATRIOTISM IN 1/79- 153

pected. Cannon were fired and bells were
rung; but instead of marching in a parade,
the militia marched to war.

News of the coming of the British fleet
reached the town late in the evening of that
same July Sunday. At first many people
thought they would not stop at New Haven,
but before morning of the next day an alarm
was sounded and news was announced that
the enemy had anchored off the mouth of
the harbor. Then all was excitement and
confusion. Valuables of all kinds were hid-
den in chimneys and feather beds or buried
in the ground or put in wells. Furniture
was hastily packed and loaded into wagons.
By daylight people were fleeing to the coun-
try, some to North Haven, others to Ham-
den and Cheshire. Many went to East and
West Rocks where they could watch the
movements of the enemy. Some remained
quietly at home because of sickness or old
age. A few who were secretly friends of the
British went out to welcome them. In their
hurry and excitement some persons did very

154 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

strange things. One woman was seen run-
ning out to the country carrying her pet cat
in her arms while her children had been for-
gotten and left at home. Another tried to
save her tallow candles but the hot July sun
melted them in her hands leaving nothing
but the wicks. Some one saw an old lady
carrying a heavy bundle and inquired what
she had. " Oh dear," she replied, " I have
some of my nice salt pork; I could not bear
to have those Britishers eat it all up."

Early Monday morning Reverend Ezra
Stiles, the President of Yale College, mount-
ed the tower of the college chapel, and with a
spy-glass plainly saw the boats of the British
landing soldiers at West Haven. There was
no longer any doubt as to their plans. They
intended to attack and plunder New Haven
and possibly burn it. The patriotic citizens
did not once think of surrender and made
ready to defend their homes. The Gover-
nor's Foot Guards and the Artillery company
were called "out and, under the command of
Colonel Sabin, Captain James Hillhouse and

PATRIOTISM IN I7/g. 155

Captain Phinehas Bradley, marched out to
West Bridge on the road leading to West
Haven. A number of students joined their
ranks to help repel the enemy. The artil-
lery company planted the cannon at the
bridge to command the road across the mead-
ows. The Foot Guards went on towards the
West Haven Green where the British had
halted for breakfast. As they crossed the
bridge, Reverend Naphtali Daggett, a pa-
triotic old man who had been President of
Yale College, rode swiftly by them mounted
on his old black mare, holding his gun ready
to shoot the first redcoat he met. He went
to the top of a small hill near the road, took
up his position in some bushes, and waited
for the enemy to come.

The British met with some little resistance
when they landed at West Haven, but soon
reached the village Green. Here they cap-
tured the village minister, Mr. Williston,
who, in trying to escape, fell over a stone
wall and broke his leg. The soldiers were
about to kill him when one of their officers,

1^6 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN,
o

Adjutant Campbell, interfered and saved his
life. He then ordered the surgeon of his
regiment to set the broken limb. A short
distance beyond the Green .they were met by
Captain Hillhouse and his men, who fired on
them from behind trees and stone walls. At
Milford Hill, Adjutant Campbell, who had
just shown such mercy and kindness to the
village minister, was killed.18

Outnumbered by the British the Americans
were compelled to retreat, and withdrew
across the bridge which was then torn down
to prevent the enemy from crossing. The
patriotic old President of Yale would not
leave his post and escape with the rest, but
continued to fire on the redcoats until he
was surrounded and captured by them.
Their officer was so astonished to see the old
man with his long black coat fighting so
bravely that he cried out, " What are you
doing there, you old fool, firing on his Majes-
ty's troops ? " " Exercising the rights of
war," replied the learned warrior, " If I let
you go this time, you rascal," said the ofii-

PATRIOTISM IN 1779- 157

ccr, " will you ever fire again on the troops
of his Majesty?" "Nothing more likely,"
came the quick reply. One of the soldiers
then tried to hit him with his bayonet, but
Mr. Daggett begged so hard for his life that
he was spared. They beat him very cruelly
with their guns, however, and knocked him
down. Then they compelled him to join
them on the hot dusty march to the town.

When the British found the road across
the meadows well guarded by cannon and
the bridge across the river destroyed, they
marched along the west side of the river to
Westville. One of the Tories who had gone
out to meet them acted as their guide. On
the way they were fired on by patriots under
the command of Aaron Burr, a visitor in
New Haven at the time and later Vice-Presi-
dent of the United States. The rest of the
Americans kept abreast of the enemy on the
east side of the river and opposed their
crossing. On reaching Westville, some of
the redcoats tried to capture and destroy the
powder mill there, but were driven off and

158 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

forced to give up the attempt. The march
from Westville to what is now Broadway
was a continuous battle. Every hour the
ranks of the Americans were increased by
the arrival of patriots from the surrounding
country. At Ditch Corner, where Whalley
and Dixwell avenues come together, there
was very sharp fighting. At Broadway the
British broke ranks and began their work of
plundering and destroying property. Help-
less men and women were robbed and ill-
treated. One poor man, crazy from sick-
ness, had his tongue cut out because he did
not answer a soldier's questions. At the cor-
ner of Chapel and York streets they planted
cannon and fired down the street several
times. At about one o'clock, tired from their
long and harassing march, they reached the
center of the town. The aged President
Daggett, weak and helpless from the weari-
some tramp, was carried into one of the
houses near the Green and laid on a bed to
die. The brave old fighter got well, how-

PATRIOTISM IN 1779- 159

ever, and was able to preach in the college
chapel the next year.

The British and Hessian soldiers spent the
remainder of the day plundering the town.
They broke into the houses, stole money and
watches, silver spoons and buckles and cloth-
ing. They cut beads from the necks of
frightened women and tore earrings from
their ears. They cut feather beds to pieces
to find hidden treasures. They destroyed
furniture and broke doors and windows.
What food they could not use or carry away,
they wasted. They drank what wines and
other liquors they could find and many of
them became drunk and committed out-
rages which otherwise they might not have
done. Amidst such distressing scenes, and
under the scorching rays of the hot July sun,
that memorable day passed. Night put an
end to most of the revelry for the tired plun-
derers were glad to rest from their brutal
labors.

The British troops who landed at West
Haven were under the command of General

l6o STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Garth. While they were marching to West-
ville, another body of the king's troops were
landing on the east side of the harbor near
what is now Light House Point. These
were under the command of General Tryon.
Their landing was opposed by a few Ameri-
cans armed with muskets and one small can-
non. With great difficulty they fought their
way along the shore by Morris Cove and a
small fort at Black Rock (now Fort Hale)
and gained possession of Beacon Hill.19
From here they made raids on the neighbor-
ing farm houses, burning and plundering.
Some went as far as the village of East Ha-
ven doing great damage.

Among the Americans who fought against
the British in East Haven that day was
Chandler Pardee, a young man, who, when
the alarm was given on Sunday evening, war-
making a call dressed in his best Sunda}
clothes and having on a pair of fine shoes
with silver buckles. Without stopping to
change his shoes he seized his musket and
hurried to join the rest of the patriots in de-

PATRIOTISM IN 1779- l6l

fending their homes. As he and his compan-
ions, outnumbered by the enemy, were slowly
driven back towards the village, they passed
through a swamp. Here young Pardee
made a misstep and one foot sank into the
soft mud. As he pulled it out his shoe came
off. Anxious to save the silver buckle, he
stopped to find it. This nearly cost him his
life. As he knelt down to feel in the mud a
bullet struck him and passed almost through
his body. The British soldiers left him
thinking he would surely die. But he man-
aged to crawl to a sheltering tree and after
a few hours was found and cared for. To
everyone's surprise he recovered and later
served his country again as a soldier.

As the militia from the surrounding towns
were fast joining the ranks of the Americans,
the British generals decided to leave New
Haven as soon as possible. They feared
they would be cut off from their ships if they
staid any longer. So, early Tuesday morn-
ing, General Garth ordered his soldiers to
meet on the Green. Those who were sober

l62 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

were taken across to East Haven, and, with
the forces already there under General Try-
on, were sent to burn houses and barns in the
village center. The remainder were march-
ed down to Long Wharf and taken by boats
to the ships in the harbor. Before they left
they set fire to the stores on the dock ; and
to protect themselves they threatened to
burn the rest of the town if they were fired
upon. It is said, too, that General Garth
was unwilling to destroy New Haven because
it was " such a pretty town."

The same day General Tryon was driven
from Beacon Hill by the militiamen and forc-
ed to retreat to the ships. On his retreat he
burned the barracks at Black Rock. By
evening all the enemy's troops were back on
their ships, and the next morning they sailed
away to attack and burn Fairfield and Nor-
walk.

As a result of this British attack on New
Haven, twenty-seven Americans were killed,
seventeen wounded and property to the val-
ue of $100,000 was destroyed. The cruelty

PATRIOTISM IN 1779- 163

and brutality of the Hessian soldiers was nev-
er forgotten by those who suffered from it;
and it only served to arouse the hatred of
the people and make them more determined
than ever to win their independence and make
it possible for their descendants to celebrate
the Fourth of July in peace if not in quiet.
Nearly a century and a quarter has passed
since that time and every year the anniversary
of the Declaration of Independence has been
observed in some way by New Haven. But
never has it been, and, let us hope, never may
it be again, celebrated as it was in the year
1779.

CHAPTER XL

How New Haven Defended the Mendi
Men.

On the west coast of Africa, not far from
Sierra Leone is the little country of Mendi,
where there lived, more than sixty years ago,
some very black negroes who played a much
mere prominent part in history than they
ever expected or desired, and who form the
subject of this story. Early in the year 1839
these negroes were kidnapped by some Span-
ish slave traders and locked in a barracoon,
or slave warehouse, at a place called Dum-
bomo. Shortly afterward they were placed,
chained together, on a Portugese slave vessel
and taken to Havana, Cuba, where they were
sold for $450 apiece to two Cubans named
Ruiz and Montez.

The slave trade was unlawful in Spain and

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. 165

the Spanish colonies at that time, but in the
West Indies slave traders easily bribed the
Spanish governors and bought and sold ne-
groes regularly. Ruiz and Montez planned
to take their slaves to another place in Cuba
and again sell them or set them to work on
plantations. Hiring a small schooner called
the Amistad (meaning, in English, " The
Friendship ") they put the Mendi slaves
aboard together with a quantity of merchan-
dise, and set sail from Havana June 28, 1839,
bound for Guanaja, a small Cuban town not
far away. The voyage was to be so short
that little food and water were carried and
the negroes were not chained. How cruel
and careless this was, events soon proved.
Two of the negroes, becoming very thirsty,
stole and drank some water. As a punish-
ment they were severely whipped. One of
them then ventured to ask the cook where
they were going. He replied that they were
being taken away to be killed and eaten.
This frightened them for they believed it.
They immediately formed a plot to gain their

l66 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

freedom. In this they were led by their
chief, whose name was Cinque [Cin-kay],
He was a very strong and active fellow, and
a match for any two men on the vessel. He
was intelligent and brave as well.

On the second night of the voyage it was
quite dark and rainy. It seemed a favorable
time to carry out their plot. So several of
the stronger negroes armed themselves with
some long knives wrhich they found on board,
and which were commonly used to cut sugar
cane. In the middle of the night they sud-
denly rose, attacked the captain and killed
him. The noise of the fight aroused the
rest of the crew, who, supposing the negroes
were hungry, ordered the cook to give them
food. But as soon as they discovered the
real meaning of the trouble, they tried to es-
cape. Most of them got away in a small
boat but the cook was killed. Ruiz and
Montez were overpowered and captured.
Their lives were spared, although one of them
was badly wounded.

Cinque and his companions thus gained

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. l6/

possession of the vessel and compelled their
two white captives, who had so shortly before
been their masters, to steer directly for
Africa, their home. They knew that it lay
in the direction of the rising sun and " three
moons " distant. Ruiz and Montez obeyed
their dusky captors and sailed east during
the day, but at night when the negroes could
not tell in what direction they were going,
they sailed northwest, hoping to meet a
friendly ship. Meantime the blacks amused
themselves in various ways on board the
schooner. They adorned each other with the
bright colored silks and the glass beads
which they found among the merchandise.
A number of looking-glasses gave them
special delight. The books they could not
read, but they enjoyed looking at the pic-
tures in them. For food they used the sup-
plies of raisins, bread, rice, fruit and olives.
For more than two months they continued
on their zig-zag voyage, suffering many hard-
ships. Some of their number became sick
and ten of them died. When they at last

l68 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

reached land they were far from their native
Africa. The Amistad came to anchor at the
eastern end of Long Island near Montauk
Point. No one on board knew where they
were. Cinque and a few others went ashore
to buy food and water from the farmers near-
by. One of them named Banna, could speak
a little English and made known their wants
to the white men who met them on the shore.
Cinque told Banna to ask if that country
made slaves. When they learned that it
was a " free country " they were very much
relieved, and when told that there were no
Spaniards there, they leaped and shouted for
joy. The Long Island farmers were fright-
ened by these strange actions and ran for
their guns. Banna soon quieted them by
telling them that he and his companions
meant no harm. They then cooked some
food on the shore and sought to hire one of
the white men, a sea captain, to take them
back to Africa. When they returned to the
vessel they took two dogs which they paid
for with some Spanish gold pieces.

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. 169

Meantime a United States Coast Survey
vessel, the Washington, which was cruising
in that neighborhood, watched the strange
black schooner, and, thinking she was ashore
or in distress, sent a boat's crew to help her.
The American sailors were surprised to find
the deck of the Amistad occupied by negroes
armed with knives. An officer drove them
into the hold of the vessel at the point of his
pistol. Cinque, hoping to escape, jumped
overboard with the two dogs, but was cap-
tured and handcuffed. Ruiz and Montez
were soon found imprisoned and at once
released. When their story was told the
Amistad was taken across the Sound to New
London harbor and news of the affair sent
to the United States Marshal in New Haven.
Cinque was very much excited by the new
turn of their fortunes and loudly urged his
followers to rise against their captors. This
was prevented, however. In a few days a
charge of murder and piracy was brought
against the negroes and they were taken to
New Haven to await trial. They were plac-

STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ed in the old county jail which stood where
the city hall is now.

When the people of New Haven learned
what queer prisoners were shut up in their
jail they became very much interested in
them. Such a crowd of negroes only lately
come from their far African homes was a
curious sight in New England. They num-
bered about forty and three of them were
young girls. Some of them were sick and
none of them had had sufficient to eat or
much to wear. So doctors were sent to care
for them and they were provided with prop-
er food and clothing. They liked the corn
and rice, but they didn't know what to do
with the white men's shirts and pantaloons,
for they seldom wore clothes in their own
tropical climate. It was some time before
they learned how to put them on and never
felt very comfortable in them. The little
girls wound the shawls which were given
them into turbans for their heads.

Although one of the Mendi men could un-
derstand a few English words, he could not

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. 171

speak the language well enough to tell the
story of their unhappy life in slavery or their
dreadful voyage in search of freedom and
home. They were represented by Ruiz
and Montez as fugitives from slavery and
bloodthirsty pirates. They could not an-
swer this false charge for they were unable
to tell their side of the story. Because they
were so helpless, they received a great deal
of sympathy. Many people who were be-
ginning to look upon slavery as a great wrong
wanted to free the unfortunate captives.
The first thing to do, however, was to find
some one who could talk with them and
learn their story. Professor Gibbs, of Yale
College, who was greatly interested in them,
succeeded in doing this. He learned the
sounds made by the negroes in counting
from one to ten. Then he searched the
ships in the harbor to find some negro sailor
who could understand the language in which
those sounds were used in counting. Un-
able to find such a man in New Haven har-
bor he went to New York where he was

172 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

more successful. On a British ship, the
Buzzard, there was a negro sailor boy named
James Covey, who knew the Mendi language
and could talk English as well. The
British captain permitted him to be taken
to New Haven where he acted as interpreter.
When Cinque and his companions heard this
boy talking to them in their native tongue
they jumped up and down with joy and left
their breakfasts uneaten, for now they could
tell the white men all that had happened to
them.

The story was soon told. With the help
of Professor Gibbs and the boy, Covey, they
related how they had been captured by the
Spanish slave dealers; how they had been
chained in cramped positions between the
narrow decks of the Portugese vessel, and
vinegar and powder rubbed on their blister-
ed skin when they complained; how they
had been sold in Havana ; how they had been
frightened by the cruel cook of the Amistad ;
how they had fought for their freedom and
borne hardships on their long and fruitless

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. 173

voyage; and how they had at last fallen into
the hands of the Americans and been put in
prison. People listened to the account with
indignation. Good men were more deter-
mined than ever to defend and free them.
Under the lead of Mr. Lewis Tappan, a
wealthy Abolitionist, of New York, money
was raised and lawyers were hired to plead
for them before the courts. Roger S. Bald-
win, of New Haven, labored earnestly to de-
fend them in this way, and won great honor
by his service.

The first trial of the Mendi captives was
held in Hartford, in September, 1839. The
prisoners were taken by canal boat to Farm-
ington, thence by wagons to Hartford.20
Two questions were to be settled by the court.
The first was, whether the negroes could be
tried in the United States for the killing of
the captain and cook of the Amistad. The
court decided that, as the murder was com-
mitted on a Spanish vessel they could be tried
only in Spanish courts. The second ques-
tion was, whether the officers of the United

174 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

States Coast Survey vessel, the Washington,
ought to be paid what is called salvage for
rescuing Ruiz and Montez with their negro
slaves of the Amistad. The court decided
that they should be paid for saving the ves-
sel but that the men, women and children
could not be sold for- their benefit, even
though they were black.

There was still another question to be de-
cided regarding the Mendi men and one
which created much interest and discussion
throughout the whole country. The Span-
ish government had demanded that the ship
Amistad be surrendered to Spanish officers
and that the negroes be sent back to Cuba
as slaves. What should be done ? The peo-
ple of the North declared that these free ne-
groes ought not to be sent into slavery, but
returned to Africa, while the slave holding
Southerners thought that the Spanish claim
was just and that the prisoners should be
given up. The question caused much vexa-
tion to Martin VanBuren, the President of
the United States, for he was anxious to

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. 175

please the South without offending the
North.

The United States court at New Haven
was to decide this third question. So the
captives were taken back to their old quar-
ters in New Haven. As the Hartford court
had decided that they had broken no laws
of this country, they were allowed greater
freedom than before. On pleasant days the
jailor took them out on the Green for exer-
cise. Crowds of curious people gathered to
watch them and laughed at their queer an-
tics. It was as good as a circus. The Afri-
cans were short, well-built fellows, and black
as coal. Cinque amused the crowd by run-
ning and jumping into the air and then, turn-
ing several somersaults before landing on his
feet again. Many of them were tattooed
and wore bright ornaments. Efforts were
made by several persons to teach them.
Several of them did learn to read and write.
When winter came they looked in wonder
and awe at the deep snow but did not suffer
from the cold although they wore little

176 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

clothing. One of their number, named
Kaperi, died, and his funeral was attended
by many of the citizens of the city.

When the time for the next trial came
there was much excitement. Hundreds of
people went to the court house every day to
listen. At the same time lying anchored in
the harbor was a United States war-ship, the
Grampus, sent by President VanBuren at
the request of the Spanish Minister to take
the negroes back to Cuba as soon as the
trial ended, for it was expected that the court
would decide the case against the captives.
The slave holders were disappointed in their
expectations, however. The court decided
that Cinque and his companions were free
and ordered them taken back to Africa. The
President was unwilling to accept this de-
cision and the case was then appealed to the
Supreme Court of the United States. The
Mendi men were very happy when told of
the decision of the New Haven court, but
they could not understand why they were to

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN. 177

be kept in prison so many months longer.
While they were waiting for their case to be
heard before the Supreme Court, they were
taken out to Westville, for the old jail was
to be pulled down. There, one of their num-
ber, a boy named Ka-le, wrote a letter to Mr.
John Quincy Adams. Mr. Adams, who had
been President of the United States, was
preparing to defend them before the Supreme
Court. This letter read as follows:

New Haven, Jan. 4, 1841.
Dear Friend Mr. Adams: —

I want to write a letter to you because you love
Mendi people, and you talk to the grand court. We
want to tell you one thing. Jose Ruiz say we born
in Havana, he tell lie. We stay in Havana 10 days
and 10 nights, we stay no more. We all born in
Mendi — we no understand the Spanish language.
Mendi people been in America 17 moons. We talk
American language little, not very good; we write
every day; we write plenty letters; we read most all
time; we read all Matt, and Mark and Luke and John,
and plenty of little books. We love books very
much. We want you to ask the court what we have
done wrong. What for Americans keep us in prison.
Some people say Mendi people crazy; Mendi people
dolt, because we no talk American language. Merica
people no talk Mendi language; Merica people dolt?

STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

They tell bad things about Mendi people and we no
understand. Some men say, Mendi people very hap-
py because they laugh and have plenty to eat. Mr.
Pendleton (the jailor) come and Mendi people all
look sorry because they think about Mendi land and
friends we no see, now Mr. P. say Mendi people
angry; white men afraid of Mendi people. The
Mendi people no look sorry again — that why we laugh.
But Mendi people feel sorry, O, we can't tell how
sorry. Some people say, Mendi people no got souls.
Why we feel bad, we got no souls? We want to be
free very much.

Dear friend Mr. Adams, you have children, you
have friends, you love them, you feel very sorry if
Mendi people come and carry them all to Africa.
We feel bad for our friends and our friends all feel
bad for us. Americans no take us on ship. We on
shore, and Americans tell us slave ship catch us. They
say we make you free. If they make us free they tell
true, if they no make us free they tell lie. If Ameri-
can people give us free, we glad, if they no give us
free, we sorry, we sorry for Mendi people little, we
sorry for American people great deal because God
punish liars. We want you to tell court that Mendi
people no want to go back to Havana, we no want to
be killed. Dear Friend we want you to know how
we feel. Mendi people think think think. Nobody
know what he think; teacher he know, we tell him
some. Mendi people have got souls. We think we
know God punish us if we tell lie; we speak truth.
What for Mendi people afraid? Because they got
souls. Cook say he kill, he eat Mendi people — we
afraid — we kill cook, then captain kill one man with

DEFENSE OF THE MENDI MEN.

knife, and cut Mendi people plenty. We never kill cap-
tain, he no kill us. If court ask who brought Mendi
people to America? we bring ourselves. Ceci hold
the rudder. All we want is make us free.
Your friend,

KA-LE.

In March, 1841, nearly two years after the
Mendi men had been stolen from their homes
in Africa, the Supreme Court of the United
States decided that they were not slaves,
and ordered them to be set free. The first
news of the decision reached New Haven in
a newspaper. The Marshall at once an-
nounced to his prisoners that the " big
court " had set them free. Cinque was in
some doubt about it at first. " Paper lie
sometimes," he said. But when they learn-
ed that it was really true there was great
rejoicing and they all fell on their knees in
prayer and thanksgiving.

Although they were set free, the poor
Mendi men were far from home and knew
not how to reach there. Their old vessel,
the Amistad, had been sold and they had no
money. " Tell the American people," they

I8O STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

said, " that we very very very much want to
go to our home." Their friends then set to
work to raise money to send them back to
Mendi. Some of them were carried about
the country on exhibition, while the rest went
to Farmington, Connecticut, to work. At
length enough money was collected to pay
their passage and they returned to Africa.
With them went two missionaries, who es-
tablished a school in Mendi. Cinque went
back to his savage life again, but acted as
interpreter for the mission. One of the little
girls became a teacher in the school. None
of them ever forgot their terrible experiences
on the Amistad or how they were cared for
and defended by the white men at New Ha-
ven.

CHAPTER XII.

How the People of New Haven Lived in
Colonial Days.

Could those pious Puritans who landed at
Quinnipiac in 1638 return to life and spend
a day in modern New Haven, they would
hardly know where they were or what to do
with themselves. They would need to learn
again how to live. The uses of almost
everything would be unknowrn to them, and
they would require a guide to show them
around and explain things. If they came
again by boat they would find that their old
landing place was more than a mile from
the harbor, and that the creek leading to it
had entirely disappeared. Wondering, and
probably somewhat frightened by the
strangeness of their surroundings, they
would seek the old market-place, the present
.Green.

l82 STORIES OF OLD XEW HAVEX.

First the tall buildings and modern brick
houses would astonish these old Puritan vis-
itors. There were large houses in New Ha-
ven when they lived there in the seventeenth
century — larger than those in most of the
other New England settlements; but they
were built of wood and were not as com-
fortable or convenient as modern houses.
The rooms were large but the floors were
bare or sprinkled with sand. Very few peo-
ple could afford carpets. Mr. Eaton had
some but he was a rich man.

The furniture in these early homes was
very plain. The chairs were hard and
straight-backed; children usually sat upon
benches both at home and in school. The
beds were not as comfortable as modern
ones ; there were no springs on them, and in
winter, before going to bed, it was necessary
to warm them with a warming pan. There
were no furnaces or stoves in those days;
and there was no coal. The fire in the great
fire-place served for both heating and cook-
ing. It was difficult to heat the big rooms

MODE OF LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS. 183

in winter for most of the heat from the fire-
place went up the chimney. Water often
froze in another part of the room and it was
necessary to keep close to the fire to keep
warm. The windows were small and, at
first, covered with oiled paper. When glass
could be obtained it was very imperfect and
made objects look blurred and indistinct.

These visiting settlers of old New Haven
who required two weeks to move from Bos-
ton to Quinnipiac in 1638 would be unable
to understand howr the same journey could
be made in three or four hours to-day. Rail-
roads and trolley-cars would seem marvelous
to them. To make a journey was a very
great undertaking in their day. The easiest
way to travel was by water. When that was
impossible, walking or riding horse-back was
necessary. Many years passed before peo-
ple could travel far in wheeled carts; even
then the roads were so rough that traveling
was slow and dangerous. Horses or carts
frequently were mired and sometimes travel-

STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ers were tipped over in swollen streams.
That, of course, was very unpleasant.

These old New Haven colonists would be
interested in the modern method of supply-
ing people with water. The network of pipes
extending to all parts of the city would puz-
zle them. Water was brought by hand in
wooden pails or leather buckets from near-
by springs or streams, while they were build-
ing New Haven. As soon as they could
find time they dug wells near their houses
and built wellsweeps with which to draw
water. A wellsweep was made by setting
a forked stake upright in the ground a short
distance from the well. Across this was fas-
tened a long pole in such a manner that one
arm was much longer than the other and
reached high into the air. The shorter end
was usually weighted with a heavy stone or
log. On the end of the long arm was tied
a slender pole to which a bucket was attach-
ed. By pulling down the tall sweep by
means of the slender pole the bucket was
lowered into the well; the heavy weight on

AN OLD WELLSWEEP.

MODE OF LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS. 185

the short arm of the sweep helped to raise
it again. A few of these old-fashioned well-
sweeps may be seen in the country around
New Haven to-day.

These Puritan founders would be dazzled
by the gas and electric lights of the modern
city. The ordinary kerosene oil lamp would
amaze them ; they would not know even how
to scratch a match. To light a fire was not
an easy thing to do in colonial days. If the
fire in. the fire-place went out, the easiest
way to start it again was to send some one
with a pan or piece of green bark to fetch
glowing coals from a neighbor's hearthfire.
The only way to start a new fire was to strike
a piece of flint and steel together and let the
spark thus made catch on a piece of tinder
or cotton. To do this successfully required
great skill. It would be difficult for any-
one to do it now-a-days.

Pine knots and tallow candles furnished
the colonists with light. A pine knot was a
very dirty and smoky thing, but many an old
Puritan minister wrote his long sermons

l86 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEX.

with the aid of such a light. Candle making
was an important household duty. Every
bit of tallow was carefully saved and melted.
The candle "wicks were made of hemp or cot-
ton, and were dipped in the hot tallow, then
taken out and allowed to cool. This was
done over and over again until the candle
was of the right size. Sometimes the melt-
ed tallow was poured into molds. All can-
dles were carefully laid away and sparingly
used. How valuable they were considered
is clearly shown by the proverb, " Don't burn
the candle at "both ends."

The different styles of dress worn at pres-
ent would seem peculiar to Puritans of the
seventeenth century. The men of that early
time wore knee-breeches and shoes with sil-
ver buckles and wooden heels. All cloth was
made at home and all clothing made from
" home-spun." Spinning was an important
part of a Puritan girl's education and weav-
ing was the chief home-industry. The set-
tlers of New Haven wore finer raiment than
those of the other New England colonies

MODE OF LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS. l8/

because many of them were well-to-do mer-
chants; as a class they were accustomed to
richer garments than farmers or sailors. The
New Haven Court never passed laws for-
bidding people to wear expensive clothes as
was done in other places. No doubt bright
colors and ruffled collars were frequently
seen in the first church that stood on the
Green.

It would surprise these early dwellers in
colonial New Haven to hear every man ad-
dressed as " Mister " to-day. They were ac-
customed to hear Theophilus Eaton and men
of his rank only, called " Mister." The dif-
ferent ranks to which people belonged in
colonial society were strictly marked. Only
those men, who, to-day, would be addressed
as ''Honorable," were called "Mister;" a
man of ordinary rank was known as " Good-
man " when New Haven was settled. Peo-
ple sat in church according to their rank
and it was a serious social offence for a per-
son to sit in the wrong pew. Great respect
was paid to persons of high rank in public

1 88 STORIES OF OLD N,EW HAVEN.

gatherings, on the street and even in the
home. Children were not expected to speak
in their presence and always stood aside
when they passed.

Should these visiting founders of New Ha-
ven be invited out to dinner much of the food
served would be strange to them and the
dishes unfamiliar. China was rare in New
Haven so early in its history. Plates were
made of square or round pieces of wood hol-
lowed out, and were called " trenchers."
Pitchers were wooden, too, and usually call-
ed " tankards." Forks were not used at
early colonial dinners as most of the food
was prepared in such form that it could be
eaten with a spoon. Potatoes were not
thought fit to eat by the New England colo-
nists; even cattle were not allowed to have
them. Tea, coffee and chocolate did not
come into common use until long after New
Haven was founded. Maple sugar was used
for sweetening as other kinds were very rare.
Little butter was used, but cheese and milk
were plentiful. The Indians taught the white

MODE OF LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS. 189

settlers how to grow corn and prepare it for
eating. At first this was the " staff of life."
The abundance of fish and game furnished
the colonists with meat; wild turkeys and
pigeons were very numerous.

Clocks and watches would be unfamiliar
objects to the founders of New Haven.
They had no watches; and there were few
clocks in their day. Mr. Davenport owned
a clock at the time of his death, but whether
or not he brought it to Quinnipiac when he
came is not known. The colonists used sun-
dials and noon-marks to tell the time of day.
The ordinary family clock was the noon-
mark. It consisted of a mark on the floor
in a doorway or on a windowsill where the
shadow of the sun fell at noon.

Newspapers would be entirely strange to
the New Haven colonists. The only way
to obtain news in colonial days was by means
of letters or chance travelers. When any-
one received a letter from England or an-
other colony he usually passed it around
among his neighbors or read it to a crowd

190 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

gathered at the inn. Travelers entertained
the men of the village by telling them the
latest news from distant settlements or for-
eign lands. Sometimes this " latest news "
was many months old.

Could these visiting Puritans of old New
Haven remain over Sunday in the modern
city they would hardly realize that it was
the Sabbath Day. Sunday was the most im-
portant day of all the week with them.
" Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it
holy " was one of the Ten Commandments
and was strictly obeyed in all Puritan set-
tlements. The Sabbath began Saturday
evening because the Bible story of the crea-
tion of the world says, " The evening and the
morning were the first day." There are
many still living who can remember when
that was the custom; a few old persons ob-
serve it even to-day.

Saturday was a very busy day with these
strict Puritans. Food was prepared, the
house cleaned, the floors freshly sanded and
the wood brought in for over Sunday. As

MODE OF LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS. IQI

soon as the first star appeared Saturday night
all unnecessary work ceased and quiet reign-
ed in the community. Sunday was a day of
rest but not of recreation. Everybody was
up bright and early ready for church. At the
beat of the drum they started out, walking
slowly and solemnly. None were allowed to
stay at home except on account of severe
sickness or accident. Woe to the lazy or
indifferent who were missing from their
pews ! In church all the men sat on one side
and all the women on the other. Young
men sat in the rear seats and servants in
the gallery. Boys were seated together, us-
ually on the pulpit stairs, and an officer call-
ed a tithingman was appointed to watch them
and keep them quiet. Any noisy or unruly
youngsters were sure to be prodded with a
long stick by the tithingman. The services
lasted several hours and must have been
very tiresome to restless children. The
prayers were sometimes more than an hour
long and the sermons still longer. In win-
ter it was difficult to keep warm, for the

192 STORIES OF OLD XE\V HAVEN*.

churches were not heated. To keep their
toes from freezing women carried with them
small foot stoves or metal boxes containing
a few hot coals. Men kept on their hats in
church except when Mr. Davenport announc-
ed his text; then they stood up and took
them off.

As the Sabbath began Saturday evening,
so it ended Sunday evening. Just as soon
as the first star could be dimly spied by the
boys and girls, the severe restraint of the
day was removed. Then was the time for
neighbors to make friendly calls and young
men to court Puritan maidens. All court-
ing was done under the watchful eyes of the
stern father or strict mother, however. It
was the custom for those intending to mar-
ry to have their names " called out " in meet-
ing beforehand. Ministers were not allowed
to marry people in those days; only magis-
trates could do that.

The children who lived in New Haven two
hundred and fifty years ago must have found
the days much longer than they would now.

MODE OF LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS. 193

They had their games of hopscotch and tag
and the rest but no toys or picture books.
They were not allowed to celebrate Christ-
mas and never had visits from Santa Claus.
The boys never played baseball or football
as they do to-day ; and they never " went in
swimming." The girls had no dolls except
those they made for themselves out of wool-
en rags, and they were not allowed to become
very fond of these, for their mothers did not
think it right. They never enjoyed the
pleasures and excitements of birthday par-
ties or children's entertainments; they were
taught to think of more serious matters.

Puritan children did have their times of
enjoyment, nevertheless. The early settlers
of New Haven did not forget that " All work
and no play makes Jack a dull boy," and
they did provide some holidays. There was
no noisy Fourth of July, of course, but chil-
dren did have a good time and nice things
to eat on Thanksgiving Day. Another en-
joyable day was " Training-day," which came
six times a year and furnished much excite-

194 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

ment. It was fun for the children, (and the
older folks as well), to watch the train-band
drill and see the soldiers run races, engage in
jumping contests and take part in other ath-
letic games. After all, when compared with
the pleasures of the boys and girls of the
twentieth century, these children of the Puri-
tan founders of New Haven must have had a
very stupid time ; but, in spite of their hard-
ships and discomforts they grew to be
strong, brave and true-hearted men and
women.

APPENDIX.

PAGE 32, No. i. — LANDING PLACE.

A marble tablet commemorating the landing of the
settlers of New Haven in 1638 has been placed on
the brick building at the corner of College and
George streets.

PAGE 42, No. 2. — HCME LOTS OF THE LEADING
SETTLERS.

(Map.)

The numbers on the map indicate the positions of
the home lots of the leading settlers in the half-mile
square.

1. Governor Theophilus Eaton.

2. Reverend John Davenport.

3. Stephen Goodyear, a leading merchant and

Deputy Governor of the colony. He died in
England.

4. Matthew Gilbert, a prominent officer in church

and state. The rough gravestone back of the
Center Church marked " M. G. 80 " is thought
to indicate his burial place.

5. Nathanael Turner, captain of the train band.

6. Ezekiel Cheever, the school master.

7. Richard Malbon, a prominent merchant and cap-

tain of the militia.

196 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

8. David Yale, the father of Elihu Yale.

9. Where John Dixwell, the Regicide, lived.

10. George Lamberton, the sea captain.

11. Thomas Gregson.

12. Isaac Allerton, who came over in the May-

flower to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and later
moved to New Haven. He built a " grand
house with four porches." A tablet on the cor-
ner of Union and Fair streets marks the site
of his house. He lies buried somewhere on
the Green.

13. James Hillhouse.

14. Roger Sherman.

15. Noah Webster.

16. Eli Whitney.

17. The oldest house.

PAGE 51, No. 3. — PORRINGER.

A porringer is a cup or bowl. In colonial days a
silver porringer was considered a very valuable pos-
session. Those given the Indians were probably
wooden.

PAGE 52, No. 4. — THE WORD YE.

" Ye " is an old way of printing " the " and should
be pronounced the. The Y was used in place of an
o: 1 English letter called thorn. This letter was
similar in shape to a Y.

PAGE 54, No. 5. — KING PHILIP'S WAR.

The only time New Haven was ever seriously
threatened with an Indian attack was in the war with

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APPENDIX. IQ7

King Philip and the Narragansetts in 1775. There
was great alarm among the inhabitants and prepara-
tions were made to fortify the town. A wooden
palisade was built around the original square and the
meeting house was fortified. Fortunately there was
no occasion to use these defences, and a few years
later the wood forming the palisade was sold.

PAGE 65, No. 6. — BANDOLEER.

A bandoleer was a broad leather belt worn by sol-
diers over the shoulder and across the breast. It
usually supported the musket.

PAGE 95, No. 7. — JUDGES' CAVE.

Whalley avenue, Dixwell avenue and Goffe street,
all leading from Broadway toward West Rock and the
Judges' Cave, are named after the three Regicides.
The top of the Rock and the woods surrounding the
old cave now form a beautiful park. On the face
of one of the great boulders forming the cave, the
Society of Colonial Wars has had placed a bronze
tablet bearing the inscription:

JUDGES' CAVE.

" Here May 15, 1661 and for some weeks thereafter
Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, William Goffe,
members of Parliament, General officers in the army
of the Commonwealth and signers of the death war-
rant of King Charles I found shelter and conceal-
ment from the officers of the Crown after the restora-
tion."

" Opposition to tyrants is obedience to God."

The most direct road to Judges' Cave lies out

198 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Whalley avenue to Westville, thence by Springside
Home to the park. An excellent road with a gentle
slope winds through the park to the cave and preci-
pice. The cave may also be reached by a foot path
from the base of the Rock affording a fine view of
the city and surrounding country.

PAGE 125, No. 8. — THE LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL.

Another famous school of old New Haven was the
Lancasterian school which was organized by Mr.
John E. Lovell in 1822. It was conducted under the
monitor system, the older scholars teaching the
younger ones. For several years the school was held
in the basement of the Methodist church which stood
on the Green. In 1827 this school was moved to a
large new building erected for its use on a lot given
by Mr. Titus Street. This was in time removed to
make room for the Hillhouse High School. The
monitor system, has long since given way to the
modern graded schools.

PAGE 132, No. 9. — YALE UNIVERSITY.

Guides may be secured free of charge to conduct
visitors about the college campus and the buildings of
the University every hour of the day during vacation.

PAGE 141, No. 10. — NAMES OF THE STREETS.

The names of the streets of a city are often an
index to its history. This is true of New Haven.
State street was called Queen street before the Revo-
lution. After the organization of the State govern-
ment it was changed to State street. George street

APPENDIX.

I99

was named after King George of England and never
changed. Grove street received its name from the
numerous groves near the Hillhouse estate. The
first elms were set out on Elm street, hence its name.
Several churches stood on the street named Church
street. Davenport avenue, Whitney avenue, Hill-
house avenue, Wooster street, and others, remind us
of the prominent men of earlier days.

PAGE 141, No. n. — HILLHOUSE AVENUE.

The debt which New Haven and the State of Con-
necticut owes to James Hillhouse can never be for-
gotten. In 1792 as a part of his work of beautifying
the city, Mr. Hillhouse laid out the avenue which
bears his name. It is one-quarter of a mile long and
over a hundred feet wide. It was at first called Tem-
ple avenue and was a private street until 1862. For
fourteen years after the adoption of the Federal Con-
stitution, Mr. Hillhouse was Senator of the United
States. In 1809 he gave up his senatorship and spent
fifteen years in placing on a firm foundation the school
fund of the State of Connecticut. In accomplishing
this object he was untiring, brave and upright. In
his complexion and features Mr. Hillhouse resem-
bled an Indian and people used to call him the
" Sachem." Hence the name Sachem street at the
head of Hillhouse avenue. It was jokingly said that
•he kept a hatchet under the papers on his desk. He
acted as treasurer of Yale College from 1782 until
his death, which occurred in 1832. Sachem's Woods
at the head of Hillhouse avenue, although private
grounds, have always been free to any who use them
properly and are a favorite resort of children.

2OO STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEX.

PAGE 141, No. 12. — ELM CITY.

The first person to give the name " Elm City " to
New Haven is said to have been a woman, Louise
Caroline Huggins, who was a writer of the i8th cen-
tury.

PAGE 143, No. 13. — THE NATHAN BEERS ELM.

This old elm stands at the foot of Hillhouse ave-
nue and is at present the largest and tallest old elm
in the city. It is gradually dying and will need to be
removed before very long. It is named after Na-
than Beers, a patriot of the Revolution, because his
home was near it. Mr. Beers became quite deaf in
his old age. The soldiers of the city often went to
his house to salute him. On one occasion he ad-
dressed them as follows: " Boys, I can't hear your
guns, but your powder smells good."

PAGE 145, No. 14. — THE GROVE STREET CEMETERY.

The Grove Street Cemetery is one of the most
famous of the older burial grounds in New England,
not only because of the noted persons buried there,
but because it was the first one in the world to be
divided into " family lots." It contains seventeen
acres. Cedar avenue is known as the " famous row."
There are the graves of Jedidiah Morse, the father
of American Geography; Eli Whitney, the inventor
of the cotton gin; Noah Webster, the author of Web-
ster's Dictionary; Charles Goodyear, the inventor of
a process which made rubber useful to mankind;
Roger Sherman, who signed the Declaration of In-
dependence; Admiral Foote, a hero of the Civil War;

APPENDIX. 2OI

Benjamin Silliman and James Dana, famous scien-
tists; Theodore Winthrop, New Haven's first martyr
in the Civil War; Nathan Beers, a patriot of the
Revolution; Woolsey, Twining, Dwight, Hadley, Por-
ter, Gibbs and Loomis, famous scholars; Lyman
Beecher and Leonard Bacon, noted preachers; and
many others whose labors and sacrifices for God and
their country have won them lasting fame and grati-
tude.

PAGE 145, No. 15.— THE CENTER CHURCH CRYPT.

There are one hundred and forty tombstones in the
crypt of this church, all dated before 1797. The crypt
is open to the public on Saturdays in the afternoon
but may be visited at other times by applying to the
Sexton of the church.

PAGE 149, No. 16. — DAVID WOOSTER.

David Wooster was another New Haven patriot
of the Revolution. He commanded a regiment which
left New Haven in June, 1775. Before the soldiers
marched away Colonel Wooster led them into the
meeting house on the Green and sent for the minister,
Reverend Jonathan Edwards, to pray with them. Mr.
Edwards was not at home. So Wooster himself step-
ped to the front of the pulpit and prayed for his
country, his men and himself.

PAGE 149, No. 17. — BENEDICT ARNOLD'S SIGN.

The sign which hung over Benedict Arnold's store
in New Haven may be seen in the rooms of the New

2O2 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Haven Colony Historical Society on Grove street.
It reads:

B. Arnold Druggist

Book-Seller &c

From London

Sibi Totique.

PAGE 156, No. 18. — WILLIAM CAMPBELL.

A monument on the top of Milford Hill marks the
grave of this gallant young officer. It bears the fol-
lowing appropriate inscription:

Adjutant William Campbell
Fell during the British invasion of New Haven,

July 5, 1779.
Blessed are the merciful.

The site of the monument can easily be reached by
the Allingtown trolley to the foot of Milford Hill.
In an open lot at the top of the hill is a signboard
directing to the monument. From this hill one may
obtain a view of the West Bridge and the causeway
across the meadows.

A dressing case used by Adjutant Campbell may be
seen at the rooms of the Historical Society on Grove
street.

^ 160, No. 19. — FORT HALE AND BEACON HILL.

Fort Hale was at first known as Black Rock Fort.
It lies on the Morris Cove road and is now in ruins.
The name of Beacon Hill was changed to Fort
Wooster and is in Fort Wooster Park. Although at
one time well provided with cannon, neither fort was

APPENDIX. 203

ever used against an enemy. Fort Hale and Beacon
Hill may be reached by the trolley to Lighthouse
Point.

PAGE 173, No. 20. — THE FARMINGTON CANAL.

This canal was dug from New Haven to Farming-
ton and was opened in 1825. Great things were ex-
pected of it at the beginning. New Haven people
spent one hundred thousand dollars on it, and Mr.
James Hillhouse dug the first spade full of earth.
The water was let in from the Farmington river.
It was a long time before it reached New Haven,
for, there were many leaks in the banks of the canal.
It was a favorite route of travel to Hartford. The
building of the railroads soon after this canal was
completed, destroyed its usefulness. It has long pro-
vided a bed for the North Hampton railroad and
saved New Haven the expense of abolishing grade
crossings. Above Mt. Carmel the railroad still fol-
lows the tow path of the old canal.

No. 21. — ELI WHITNEY.

Eli Whitney 'was graduated from Yale College in
1792 and went to Georgia to teach. While there he
invented a machine for separating cotton from the
seed which is known as the cotton gin (or engine).
The machine was stolen from Whitney and he was
unable to secure any benefits from his patents on it,
because of frauds by the cotton planters. In 1798
he came to New Haven and built a factory for the
manufacture of fire-arms for the United States gov-
ernment. The plant was situated at what is now

2O4 STORIES OF OLD NEW HAVEN.

Whitneyville. The method used by Mr. Whitney in
the manufacture of guns was entirely new at that time
and thought to be impracticable. No workman in
the shop made a whole gun but each one made some
particular part and then the parts were put together.
This method of manufacture revolutionized industry
and was a more important contribution to civiliza-
tion than the invention of the cotton gin.

No. 22. — OLD HOUSES.

The oldest building in New Haven is the Ruther-
ford warehouse on the east side of lower State street.
It was built in 1665. The oldest dwelling house is on
Meadow street and was built in 1684. The Benedict
Arnold house is on Water street near Fair street,
and is now used as a shed. Noah Webster lived in it
at one time, and began his dictionary there. Web-
ster later moved to the Trowbridge house on the cor-
ner of Grove and Temple streets. Number 261
George street is the old Lyman Beecher house and
was built in 1764. The house numbered 247 Church
street was built before 1760 and was known as the
old Coffee House. The home of Roger Sherman is
on Chapel street next to Warner Hall, and is now
used for stores. The oldest brick house is known as
the " Pinto House," 535 State street and was built in
1745-

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